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Why Are Lessons in Humanity Forgotten When It Comes to Referees?

By John Pranjic, Soccer Parenting Association, 10/16/18, 12:00PM PDT

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One big, big difference between youth soccer referees and pro soccer referees is the postgame analysis, discussion and decompression. It simply doesn’t exist in youth soccer.

“I can’t sleep on a Saturday night if I think I’ve got something wrong.”

That line is from a story written about what life is like as a referee in one of the most demanding locations in world football. But I don’t live there. I live here. I live right here in the United States.

And that line describes me last Saturday night. One call I made as a referee changed the entire temperature of my match that afternoon and had me up all night replaying it in my mind. Did I get it right? Did I get it wrong? What could I have done better?

It sucked.