Standing on the bench?

[dandayr]

Dec 9, 2022 16:39:19 GMT SamH said:

I remember getting a telling off once way back in the Worthing Bears days, by then owner Christian "bellend" Hamilton (unofficial nickname). I asked a ref after the game on the court, without using profanity or being aggressive, why they didn't call a violation (forget what it was now) on the other team in the final minute which may well have cost us the game. It was clear as day so not a 50-50 or anything.

Ref basically blanked me and walked away then as I'm on my way out the building, in a fairly big crowd of people leaving, Hamilton pushes his way through to me to say he'd been asked to tell me not to approach the refs again like that!

What an arse, he should be having a go at them himself and backing his fans up, not pandering to them like that. I told him that too and he didn't know what to say. I was about 17 at the time lol.

Or referee how about you grow a spine and tell me to my face? Twa....twit.😇

so many things wrong with that - but will keep it short.

People see such behaviour at a senior game and think its ok (its not) - so repeat it at a lower level game where you have less experienced and younger refs.
They are human and reappraise what they are doing and decide stuff it and walk away.

[milehigh]

Sadly abuse of officials seems to be endemic and accepted in many sports, which leads to a shortage of officials, and a greater shortage of good officials.
The match fees paid hardly covers the costs and time involved, so it is understandable why officials decide it's not worth the hassle and stop doing games.

[SamH]

But I think if a fan asks politely and just wants to know why they didn't make a call, they could at least give a reply rather than walk off then report said fan who has done nothing wrong. In the Brighton days when I helped setting up for games I regularly chatted with the refs before the games, most were willing to engage and even talk about decisions made in past games (we tended to get the same few most of the time).

Bob Bhania even once offered to claim extra expenses to cover a parking ticket another volunteer got for parking in the wrong place outside the Brighton centre!