Headline News! Referee and Regional Rep In ‘Jail’!

• Potential for more protests grow with careless follow-up procedures…
• Quick actions needed at all levels…

C. Cliff McCrath

The season is well underway and profiles (in power ratings) are beginning to take shape throughout men’s and women’s soccer. Without naming schools, the usual suspects are beginning to rise to their accustomed top spots giving Fantasy Players a leg up, so to speak, on their early season ‘picks’. (I know, I know…college soccer is not in that culture – YET…so accept it as a figure of speech.) In any event, these comments are meant as mere attention-getters. Now that I have your attention, the real reason for this blog is to put the SPOTLIGHT of a serious issue that has already surfaced in several areas and, if not corrected PRONTO, potentially, has grave consequences. The problem? Referees AND Regional Reps are not following-through with the requirements set forth in Rule 12.6.1.1 Read, below, an actual excerpt – from an athletic director – from a game already played:

“Also, as per rule 12.6.1.1 pages 74 and 75, the regional representative was supposed to have notified me, the athletic director, within 48 hours and informed me of the fighting ejections.  This never happened until my office solicited the information yesterday, September 12, 2011, clearly beyond the 48 hour period (the date of the ejections was September 3).  Should I have been notified on a timely basis, I can assure you that I would have kept our student athlete from participating in the subsequent (second) game.

Clearly, the issue here is the failure of the referee to contact the NISOA Regional Rep who, within 48 hours, SHALL contact the Athletic Director(s) of the respective schools to inform them that a FIGHTING EJECTION had occurred. Failure to do so can jeopardize a player’s future eligibility; more importantly, it can lead to his/her school forfeiting future games. RULE 12.11.1 FINAL SENTENCE OF PARAGRAPH FOUR: “ANY GAME IN WHICH A SUSPENDED PLAYER OR COACH PARTICIPATES ILLEGALLY SHALL BE FORFEITED TO THE OPPOSING TEAM!”

In our quest to produce the absolutely best officiating for college soccer, EVERY man and woman, wearing the NISOA badge, HAS TO BE THEIR BEST AT ALL TIMES! That means, BEFORE, DURING and AFTER the game is played.

It is still early enough to do two things for the 2011 season:

1. Check back, over the games you have completed, to see if any paperwork items still need correcting.
2. Resolve to be peerless, in not only ‘calling’ the game, but attending to all the details! I know you can do this!!