the officials, who lacked proper fitness, and only able to move subtly enough but struggling to keep up with play, were missing all kinds of calls.
I find this quote all too accurate. We joke (but we are serious) at our field as we often have a referee who we say we can draw a 5 foot circle around and he would never move out of it. It's sad that it's true.
I don't expect Premier League level of officiating (and even they get it wrong more than they should) but I think at this level we deserve some sort of effort to get the calls right. Parents (whether right or wrong) spend a lot of money and time developing the skills of their kids. The kids work hard, often year round, to become as good as they can be only to have terrible officiating decide the games. It's all too prevalent here in Western PA.
I'm sure we can swap 100's of stories about bad calls and I really do understand it's a hard game to officiate. At our field they only have two officials and use the no AR system to I get that it's tough, I really do. It is still bothersome when an official does not know the rule. We have one that misapplies the offside rule and will not change her ways. She does not believe offside is determined when the ball is played, she calls it even if your player outraces an opponent to the ball. In other words, you can never have a kid behind the defense with the ball one on one with the keeper on her half of the field.
I other news, I didn't know our girls play tonight as well so I will likely be going to that game. Hopefully the schedule lines up I can make it to one of your games. If not the season ends soon and maybe you want to catch a Steeler game or at least tailgate? Casino? We need to meet up.
Good luck tonight!
