I play for a post collegiate club team in CT. Most of the players are coaches or have been playing since they were knee high. The officials that do our games take a lot of crap. People question calls, give them a hard time, and in general don't cut the official enough slack for officiating a game solo. Most lax games have 2 or even 3 officials doing a game. We were chatting with the official before our Sunday game. He seemed like a nice guy. He has been officiating for many years and does the top notch CT HSs games and even the semi-pro leagues around the North East.
So here is where it gets interesting. We were trying to clear the ball from our defensive end when one of the opposing players interfered with our goalie. That gave us a free clear. It was a close call but most people felt the official was correct in his call. The ball goes down the other end and a similar play happens. The official DOES NOT call interference this time and the opposing team's goalie starts getting on the officials case. To a degree, most officials in our league will listen and if if gets out of control, throw a flag for conduct. Instead, the officials whirls around, points his finger at their goalie and screams "shut your mouth." At this point the goalie and the official are in a all out screaming match. Both teams start side conversations as this is happen. The consensus is that the official is unprofessional and this is the most bizarre thing we have seen in a long time. Just when we think its dying down they start screaming at each other again. All this is happening while the girls HS team is waiting to take the field. The official walks off the field and tells us to officiate our own game. He then has second thoughts and comes back to finish the game. We score another quick goal and the official taunts the goalie by saying "was that in, was that a goal?" The game ends and both teams are left scratching their heads.
What do you guys think? How would your react in the moment? Would you complain to the the officiating governing bodies about said official? Have you ever seen anything like this before?
So here is where it gets interesting. We were trying to clear the ball from our defensive end when one of the opposing players interfered with our goalie. That gave us a free clear. It was a close call but most people felt the official was correct in his call. The ball goes down the other end and a similar play happens. The official DOES NOT call interference this time and the opposing team's goalie starts getting on the officials case. To a degree, most officials in our league will listen and if if gets out of control, throw a flag for conduct. Instead, the officials whirls around, points his finger at their goalie and screams "shut your mouth." At this point the goalie and the official are in a all out screaming match. Both teams start side conversations as this is happen. The consensus is that the official is unprofessional and this is the most bizarre thing we have seen in a long time. Just when we think its dying down they start screaming at each other again. All this is happening while the girls HS team is waiting to take the field. The official walks off the field and tells us to officiate our own game. He then has second thoughts and comes back to finish the game. We score another quick goal and the official taunts the goalie by saying "was that in, was that a goal?" The game ends and both teams are left scratching their heads.
What do you guys think? How would your react in the moment? Would you complain to the the officiating governing bodies about said official? Have you ever seen anything like this before?
