Note to the RIC

Note: Make sure you read the first posting in this blog first for full value. Scroll down or click on 'Red Card For Swearing' in the blog archive on the left.

I was told in the Disciplinary hearing, that the next step I could take was to talk to the Referee In Chief(RIC) and/or launch a BCSA appeal at $500 an incident. Here's what went to the RIC.
---
On Wednesday, I attended the Disciplinary hearing for our three red carded boys. It went as expected. They upheld the one-game suspension.

However, they were not unmoved by my arguments, but said there was nothing they could do about it. They also said that the next place to proceed would be the Referee In Chief and/or a direct appeal to BCSA (at $500 per incident).

As I mentioned to the Disciplinary committee, our team has been together for 5 years and have not had a single red card in that time. To receive 3 red cards in one game is a startling anomaly. There is nothing different or wrong about our team. The system has changed. (In my day job as a Systems Analyst, these are the observations I make on a daily basis)

As Dave mentioned to you previously, our contention is that our referee misconstrued the instructions he was given about the crackdown on bad language. He told us repeatedly that he had no discretion in the matter at the direction of the Referee In Chief.

It is now glaringly obvious that this interpretation was not carried out by other referees. Of the 10 coaches that I have communicated with that had games on Sat Sept 12, none were given the instructions on new rules regarding bad language that we were, and none of the games were subject to them. The list of contacts is below. The Disciplinary committee asked for this list, and it is now on record in the minutes of that meeting.

Of the many people I have since talked to (10 coaches, 2 club presidents, 4 referees, 1 director of college athletics) none can understand the heavy handedness of these decisions.

We are all convinced that this was not your intention. The intention was to cut down on bad language in youth soccer. We completely agree and will be glad to work with you and the league to do this.

However, this must be done in a manner that is not heavy handed and, more importantly in this case, it must be done fairly to all teams in the league at the same time. To apply a heavy handed rule to only one team (or at least one team out of the 10 that I have documented below) is grossly unfair.

Our boys are completely disillusioned by this process. This is not what we want. They see the unfairness.
Their comments after the disciplinary meeting were:
- if the purpose if youth soccer is to get kids playing, this doesn't help.
- I would have been ok with it, if we had been told by our coaches at the start of the practicing for the new season.
- one of the boys, who was a referee himself, but stopped because he didn't like it that parents on the sidelines swore at him, said that the league should concentrate on that first, not stopping 16 year old boys from playing.
- the boys said that the referee must feel bad now, because he's probably found out that no one else did what he did.

You have a chance to make a difference and rescind the suspension for these three players for this weekend. This is unusual, but not unheard of. I read with interest in the newspaper this morning that Eduardo da Silva(of Arsenal) had his two game suspension lifted and went on to have a positive impact in a game he was initially banned from playing (see link below).

You can do the same. Give our team at least a chance to compete this weekend, rather than starting with at least one player short.

Bob Walker
Manager U17 GVW Rush.
--------------------
Arsenal Fights Back to Win (Eduarda da Silva suspension lifted):
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Arsenal+fights+back/2003579/story.html

---------------------
Games on Sept 12, 2009. No reference to new rules regarding swearing.

Vancouver
U17 WVA Strikers vs MAR Oak Park
U15 GVW Griffins vs SQU Clinton Park
U16 KLM Gunners vs PTG Carnarvon Park.

GVW Club U12 and U11 games.

North Vancouver
U14 GVW Rangers vs WVA
U15 GVW Wolves vs MTS

Burnaby
U17 CAU Gazzola vs PTG
U17 WBN Rebels vs CAU