Love your local refs.

Referees and officials have some of the hardest jobs in the world. The increase in hostility, abuse and bullying by fans, parents, coaches and players have made many officials and referees quit. It is hard to get people to even want to fill these jobs.

USA Soccer unveiled and implement their Referee Abuse Prevention (RAP) policy, which outlines mandatory penalties for verbal and physical assault. undermining refs, yelling and intimidation are all outlined as punishable offenses. Any unwanted physical contact is subject to punishment. 60% of officials are not recertifying due to harassment.

We cannot have games without referees, which are usually young adults. We have to remember these are someone’s kid in our community as well. The games are not that serious and your child’s growth and experience mean so much more. Letting them grow and learn how to handle adversity is one of the best things sports can teach your child. The friendships, memories and moments during practice often outweigh the memories some may have on game day.

Referees and officials are people just like you. They are going to make mistakes. They are going to mess up. They often may even have a better understanding of the game than you do as well. By the end of the game, everyone on the field has had a chance to learn more and get better. This is not professional sports yet and even then referees still make mistakes. Have grace and remember they are here to keep the game going.

We all want our child to be on the highest of highs and the best, but in sports that is not possible. Someone has to lose and someone will win. Every week, match and play is a chance to find a win. Some days showing up for the game is the WIN.

The biggest part of the RAP policy is it enforces harsher penalties for actions take against referees who are minors. We forget many of our referees are truly kids and just teenagers. They are should be protected from any belligerent behavior to begin with. Everyone is encouraged to report any harassing behavior to the proper channels and there will communication back.

Overall, this enforces the idea that we got to change as a community at sporting events. We have to remind ourselves to be respectful of those officiating our sporting events. Their pay does not give people the right to treat them any sort of way. We must also remind ourselves many of these people are children themselves trying to learn their way.