Greater Lewisville Area Soccer Association
Greater Lewisville Area Soccer Association
The Respect Our Referees (RoR) program is designed to reduce verbal abuse, physical abuse and inappropriate / unacceptable behavior involving soccer referees.
It is designed to positively influence behavior around the soccer pitch.
The goal is to provide a fair, safe and enjoyable environment for everyone involved; players, coaches, spectators and referees.
Soccer continues to grow with more players participating every year.
NTX Soccer recruits and trains 3,000 new referees ever year.
The referee attrition rate is 54%!
Most attrition occurs in referees aged 12-16 years.
60% of all our referees are aged 12-16 years.
It is becoming harder to find referees to cover all of our matches.
The #1 reason given why referees don’t return is “verbal abuse” from coaches, spectators and players.
When there are loud and public abusive comments from the Coach the Referee or League Official will:
ASK “Sir/ ma’am please don’t yell at me/the referee as it’s making it hard for me/them to focus on the match.”
TELL “Please stop your abusive behavior, or you will be dismissed.”
DISMISS “You are being dismissed for irresponsible behavior and you must leave the bench area.”
Report the incident to your Assignor/ League.
When there are loud and public abusive comments from a SPECTATOR to the Referee, the COACH is responsible, the Referee or League Official will:
ASK “Sir/ ma’am please speak to your spectators and ask them to quiet down as their behavior is making it hard for me/them to referee the match.”
TELL “Please stop the spectator’s abusive behavior, or they will be removed.”
DISMISS “Please tell your disruptive spectators that they need to leave the area. The match will not restart until they leave.”
Report the incident to your Assignor/ league.