Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Romania soccer introduces black card to 'combat abusive behaviour' from parents

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 79 posts

Re: Romania soccer introduces black card to 'combat abusive behaviour' from parents

#51

Post by daveguy »

derefr wrote: post #46
daveguy wrote: post #35

Result is a permanent cancellation? Does that mean the match is nullified or the winner at the time wins? Either way, one team could draw a strategic black card. Seems like cancellation of the match is not the correct outcome. What about penalizing the harassing team? A red card result for the team (down a player for the next game). This seems like an odd way to handle abusive behavior from parents. Abandoning the cu…

Why are you assuming abuse by parents is solely being targeted at the opposing team’s players? Parents may just as well be shouting at their own kid for what they see as “sub-optimal” play, and at their kid’s teammates for what they see as “getting in their kid’s way.”

I'm not sure why you think I was assuming that. Or why either of those wouldn't be a valid reason their actions shouldn't result in punishment the most direct way possible to the parent. A loss for their own team. That's not a good outcome for someone who treats their kid as a lottery ticket no matter who they were harassing. Although I do understand the response in a sibling post that it still gives the asshat parent some degree of control over policy and outcome. It seems like you may have mistaken some of what I said as implying something about the recipient of the abuse. Nothing I said had anything to do with the recipient of abuse. Just the parent and the team they want to win for vicarious satisfaction.

Re: Romania soccer introduces black card to 'combat abusive behaviour' from parents

#52

Post by [deleted] »

mbreese wrote: post #24
onlypassingthru wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's placing a lot of faith in the maturity and tactical awareness of a teenager. I don't know about the games in Romania, but here in the US, the youth soccer referees are mostly older youths.

In the US, only the youngest games have teenage refs (U10 and younger). And even then, it is only common in the lower competitive tiers. Competitive travel/select league games generally have adult refs (national and regional leagues). The money is pretty decent for two hours of work (and you can work games back to back to back).

[deleted]

Re: Romania soccer introduces black card to 'combat abusive behaviour' from parents

#54

Post by [deleted] »

jeffrallen wrote: post #44

The attitudes and behaviors at my son's U9 matches in Switzerland are so distasteful I started inventing excuses to not go until eventually my wife went to a tournament. She came home and said, "so that's why you don't want to go any more, huh?" Youth football is a plague on children. My other children were smart enough to choose tennis and horses. I'm counting the games until my son realizes football is cesspool and…

[deleted]

Re: Romania soccer introduces black card to 'combat abusive behaviour' from parents

#55

Post by verve_rat »

Loughla wrote: post #16
qsort wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoting from the official website: >>>>>> The new procedure targets inappropriate behavior by parents and spectators directed at children, coaching staff members, referees, match officials, or other parents and spectators. This includes, but is not limited to: Verbal abuse (insults or profanity), as well as physical assault or shoving of one’s own children; Verbal abuse, physical assault, or shoving of staff members…

>If that's the situation in, and it can't be stressed enough, a children soccer game It's not extremely common in my area, but it is more common than you would think. Parents treat their children like lottery tickets when it comes to athletics. And God help you if you're the unfortunate umpire at a travel league game that makes a questionable call. The youth sports industry is fucking gross and nobody seems to notice…

>youth sports industry

Yup, well there's your problem.

Re: Romania soccer introduces black card to 'combat abusive behaviour' from parents

#56

Post by lores »

daveguy wrote: post #35

Result is a permanent cancellation? Does that mean the match is nullified or the winner at the time wins? Either way, one team could draw a strategic black card. Seems like cancellation of the match is not the correct outcome. What about penalizing the harassing team? A red card result for the team (down a player for the next game). This seems like an odd way to handle abusive behavior from parents. Abandoning the cu…

Abandoned matches are reviewed by the relevant league, and depending on the reason and circumstances the match can be replayed, resumed, or adjudicated. When a side is judged to be at fault, the outcome is often a default 3-0 loss for them, on top of assorted punishments for the players/coaches/teams involved.

Re: Romania soccer introduces black card to 'combat abusive behaviour' from parents

#58

Post by compiler-guy »

nekusar wrote: post #28

New way to bully unlocked: join as spectator and throw slurs to force game closure. In reality, the game needs paused, and to forcably eject bad actors, then resume game.

I’m sure the league has considered less drastic actions, and in reality a group of administrators dealing with an ongoing problem know way more about possible solutions that are available and can possibly work than random HN commenters.

Re: Romania soccer introduces black card to 'combat abusive behaviour' from parents

#59

Post by spockz »

jdeibele wrote: post #48
applfanboysbgon wrote: post #6

> The black card being brandished will be the final part of a three-step process. In the first instance, the referee will temporarily suspend the match and ask coaches to speak directly to its team’s supporters and parents, while an announcement will also be communicated to supporters should a public address system be available. > Should the behaviour continue, the referee will suspend the match for 10 minutes and se…

I referee volleyball. Our instructions are to get the home team - preferably the athletic director or somebody similar but ultimately the home coach if there's no one else - to do something about somebody behaving in an unacceptable way. We're advised not to act too friendly with coaches because some people might think we're favoring their team. Involving the coach if you don't have to might create the opposite impre…

Came to say the same. Except it is the team captain that you should address.

Typically they will then escalate to the coach/club coordinator or something. By the time that is finished the guilty party has either left by their own volition already or through the other spectators.

Volleyball is a chill sport and I have had only once in refereeing junior games (Most shenanigans if any is typically directed at the referees not even the players.

There has been a slight uptake in nastiness that I attribute to the sport becoming more popular.

(Context: the Netherlands, 12 years of experience from the lowest classes to 2nd division)

Re: Romania soccer introduces black card to 'combat abusive behaviour' from parents

#60

Post by dylan604 »

Loughla wrote: post #16
qsort wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoting from the official website: >>>>>> The new procedure targets inappropriate behavior by parents and spectators directed at children, coaching staff members, referees, match officials, or other parents and spectators. This includes, but is not limited to: Verbal abuse (insults or profanity), as well as physical assault or shoving of one’s own children; Verbal abuse, physical assault, or shoving of staff members…

>If that's the situation in, and it can't be stressed enough, a children soccer game It's not extremely common in my area, but it is more common than you would think. Parents treat their children like lottery tickets when it comes to athletics. And God help you if you're the unfortunate umpire at a travel league game that makes a questionable call. The youth sports industry is fucking gross and nobody seems to notice…

I spent several years as a soccer ref including high school matches. It never failed that every time I hit my whistle, the side of the stadium opposite of the direction of me signaling the foul would always erupt in jeers. You could always tell the helicopter parents complaining about non-calls not appreciating that soccer is a contact sport. There was only one game where the officiating crew was escorted by police, but I really felt that was over blowing the situation. There was the one game were we had to temporarily suspend the match because of gunfire in the area not aimed at the pitch, but uncomfortably close.

The funny thing is, I became a ref because I was giving the ref of one of the games I was on the touchline coaching wasn't abusive, but definitely a constant barrage of second guessing. At the end of the match, one of the association members suggest that if I didn't like the level of refereeing that I should become a ref myself. I accepted the Pepsi challenge that rest of history. My favorite experience was a coach that was getting a bit grating. I remembered a line an old timer mentioned that I decided to give a try, "hey coach! you got an assistant? you better get 'em warmed up!"

As a coach, the absolute worst part of the 10 year experience absolutely was the parents. Luckily, I never had abusive parts. It was always over excited cheering for the dumbest things from people that had no clue about tactics and thinking that blindly booting the ball up the pitch was awesome. We had no player with the speed or skill of going over the top route one, so it was just a dumb play. Usually, by the end of the season some of the other parents could usually get them calmed down. It also helped to remind some of the over the top parents that this was recreational play, and everyone got the same t-shirt at the end of the season. Nobody was getting scholarships. It was basically bragging rights for the kids back at school.

Post reply on HN