I teach my children and the players in my club respect.  In words, I tell them to respect their opponents.  To respect their teammates.  To respect their coaches.  To respect the game.  And to respect the officials.

The last one is getting harder and harder.  The officials are getting less and less talented.  They are missing calls.  Kids are getting hurt or cheated.  And the officials aren’t competent enough to keep games under control.  I have coached games where girls get repeatedly checked in the head with no calls.  I was in one game where a girl on my team scored a goal and was checked in the face so hard there was an immediate mark and later a bruise.  She fell to the ground and I rushed onto the field to check on her.  The referee gave me a yellow card for entering the field of play.  He did not call the check to the head.  There is just no excuse for bad refereeing, especially when the level of play is so good.  When the skill level is high, referees need to be on par with their own skill level … and professionalism!  God, there is a lack of professionalism.

On the biggest stages of the sport in the last month, the officials have impacted the game immensely.

In the world games, Canada was robbed by the referees, after they held a 1 goal lead late in the game.  They won the faceoff, then US was awarded the ball on a mysterious off sides call.  US tied it up.  Then when time ran out, extra seconds kept magically being added to the clock to give the US three additional shots after time expired on the clock that the players could see.  The US won the World Games, and there was no integrity to it.

Two nights ago, Jeff Teat, arguably the best player in Canada, and one of the best in the NCAA, was playing in the Minto Cup, Canada’s amateur national championship.  I did not see the game, but heard that the referee from the west coast was taunting him all game.  I have seen posted online that after Teat was shoved from behind into the goal, that the same referee was yelling at him to get up.  After the game, said referee leveed a 3 game suspension of Teat, and of his father, Dan Teat.  He claims he was threatened by them.

I have met both of these men on multiple occasions.  Jeff Teat is an ambassador of sportsmanship.  I am so impressed by this young man.  And he must get it from somewhere.  Anything is possible, and I shouldn’t judge anything without evidence or knowing facts, but I find it hard to believe that Jeff Teat would threaten a referee.

Let’s make it all about the refs!

Are you kidding me!