re: So the league sent this email out...

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The biggest issue is that so few people want to officiate now, that you end up with a lot of very young officials who don't know the rules, are lazy, and don't really care to learn, because they know the associations are so desperate they will keep assigning them games.

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There may be a few like that, but way more often these young officials are eager to learn, get better, are open to criticism if you follow it up with how to fix it, etc. They just aren't confident in their decision making and aren't confident standing up to adults. If you have a 15/16 year old doing one of his first U8-U10 games and a 40 year old dad/coach is yelling at them all game, they are just going to swallow the whistle, not make any calls, mentally check out, and it's hard to get them to come back next week to do it again.

The lazy ones don't stick around much longer than the abused ones.

Refs, Umps, etc., need to take charge immediately. The ones who let stuff go, then try to reign it in later have hard time maintaining control. I like the old schools refs who don't put up with any shite whatsoever.

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You've never held a gun in your life, have you?

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It's been about 19 years and don't plan on it again. Certainly wouldn't hold one while trying to ref a game, much less a kid's game.

If I found out that one of my refs was had a gun on them during a game, I would never assign them another game.

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This is the truth in soccer because a lot of times that rookie ref is a linesman calling offsides and standing on the sideline near the coaches and parents.

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A U8 or U10 will likely be one of their first games, and those usually don't have ARs, so the 15/16 year old is the center and they don't have any help.

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It's been about 19 years and don't plan on it again.

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Pussy.

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Certainly wouldn't hold one while trying to ref a game, much less a kid's game.

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Not would I, but there is absolutely no undue risk in them having one concealed on their person.

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Pussy

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Ok?

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work with a lot of kids doing their first game as a center. I always tell them that I really don't care what they call, just be confident. Call a foul? Give a strong whistle and signal. Ball goes out and you don't know a direction? Pick one and go with it. You're going to get calls wrong, and we'll work on that. Positioning will come with experience. The biggest thing to start with is to not be timid. If you can get them to not be afraid to make a call, they will likely be fine.

If you get several people trying to intimidate them before they get to that point, then the probability of them sticking with it is small.

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I used to do a lot more referee / umpire training than I do now... but I used to always tell my new guys there are three things that are most important.

1) Know the rules
2) Be in position
3) Sell the call, the more bang bang it is, the more you sell it

I still tell new umpires/refs this when I see them.

There is no excuse for not knowing the rules... and that includes league-specific rules. If you are not in the right position, not only is it hard to get the call right, but smarter coaches will know you are not in position and will use that against you. And you have to be confident in your call and be assertive. Leave no doubt. Coaches will find doubt and blow it up.

The third one to me comes with time. The problem we have with a lot of our officials these days is they don't take the time to learn the rules, and they don't hustle enough on the field/court to get in the proper position.

I honestly could care less at this point about blown calls... they happen at all levels.

Don't most ballparks strongly prohibit firearms in the premises?

Hell, they prohibit tobacco usage and foul language surely they won't allow firearms.