VIOLENT CONDUCT and FOUL & ABUSIVE LANGUAGE towards Referee’s

IMPORTANT NOTICE - Referee ABUSE

We need your help

Please treat this as an escalation which needs attention. 

Across the district we are joining in the calls for concern by the level of misconduct, abuse, physical contact and lack of respect this season being shown towards the match officials. The 2021 season which was designed solely to get players out playing has result in an unprecedented about of discipline.  Each week the depth of the discipline handed out within our league is shocking.  It’s way higher than any other season.  Collectively the league has received more suspensions for VIOLENT CONDUCT and FOUL & ABUSIVE LANGUAGE toward Referee’s than in the 2018 and 2019 seasons combined.

We need your help.  Please pay attention to this.  Please help us move to ZERO VIOLENT CONDUCT and FOUL & ABUSIVE LANGUAGE towards everyone for the remainder of the season. 

If you see someone about to lose themselves, please step in and lower the temperature.

The coordinators are working feverishly in unison to have the majority, if not all, games covered across the district not only with the correct number of officials but the correct competency of official. Match officials are often asked to do anywhere from 2-4 games in a day, just to try and cover all of the games.  This has led to an increased rate of injury for match officials unfortunately.  In return for doing this, the match officials are being abused. This behaviour is never acceptable, but it is even less acceptable in a season played under the pretences this is being played under.

If we don’t see a drastic shift in the behaviour within our league, we run the risk of losing match officials. This will not only impact our ability to cover games in this condensed season, but will effectively diminish our base on which to build for the future.  This is largely a development year for the district and this type of environment will not allow the referee area to build the caliber of match official the district is proud of producing. 

Please share this message with your teams.

Sincerely

WOSL

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