There are many aspects of being club President that I enjoy but hearing that a NWSF referee and his 14-year-old son are withdrawing from refereeing for an indefinite period of time due to the level of abuse and questioning of decisions from players, managers and spectators is not one of them.

Abuse of referees is a blight on our game and should not be tolerated at any level.

The vocal belittling and defying of referees sets a bad example for our children, degrades the game and results in less people wanting to either referee or play.

The old saying “it takes a village to raise a child” is particularly applicable in creating a culture that
discourages abuse of sporting officials. Coaches and parents are role models for all players and a
good example needs to be set unilaterally – one abusive parent, player or coach can ruin it for
everyone.

Referees are mostly senior men/women doing it for the love of the game or young kids trying to earn some pocket money and the game is poorer without them.

Attached is the NWSF Code of Conduct. Please read and follow.

The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. Let us all do our part and raise the standard and increase the respect shown towards referees.

Thanks

Euan