Play on! - Reasons Why We Don't Use GCs/Referees


Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Kandice
Sports Coordinator


Whether this is your first season with the ESSC playing Outdoor Soccer or you have been playing for years, you may have noticed we don’t have Referees or GCs watching over games (the exception is our GC’d Soccer League, but more on that later). There are a few main reasons why Referees or even GCs are not present at Outdoor Soccer games, which we will explore below!

1. ESSC leagues are self-officiated

  • Even in other sports where GCs are present, players are still expected to be in control of their actions and be able to appropriately manage the game. With leagues being adult only, we believe that players should be able to make the right call or quickly come to an agreeance if there is any disagreement.
  • Many leagues/coaches/players encourage to “play until the whistle” when a Referee is present. This can create a hostile environment and highlight aggressive players. Without this option, games will naturally be less aggressive and players will be more responsible of their actions.

2. Our leagues focus on the “fun-first, winning-second” philosophy

  • Without the presence of a Referee or GC, we believe this provides a more relaxed environment for players to simply enjoy the sport.
  • Players are responsible for themselves and there is more focus on controlling your actions rather than relying on a Referee to make a call, keeping the game fun and light-hearted.

3. Less need for a Liaison in Outdoor Soccer

  • One of the main roles of a GC is to be a liaison between the ESSC, the players, and facilities. In Outdoor Soccer, with the use of outdoor playfields, there is less need for a GC to coordinate with a facility to set up, ensure games are starting/ending on time (less rotations at one facility), or be the contact for caretakers.

4. More opportunity to play

  • In Outdoor Soccer, we are not able to run multiple rotations on the same field in most cases. For us to have GCs at each game, we would either need enough GCs to be at each field or would have to use a limited number of fields each night depending on how many GCs were available.
  • In a given night in the Spring/Summer seasons, we use 20+ fields. If we weren’t able to use this many fields in a night, less teams would have the opportunity to play.

As mentioned above, we do have a GC’d league for our Outdoor Soccer players. This league was created as we understand there are some players who value having an ESSC representative present at games. In this case, the GC does not act as a Referee but is there to help facilitate and mediate games. To read more about the role of a GC you can click HERE to view an article explaining it further!