Dan Falloon
The Borderland Soccer Association is staring at a number of issues heading into the upcoming season, and league president Tristan Hutton is encouraging members to pitch solutions.
At the forefront is a referee shortage which Hutton feels, if unaddressed, could grind the men’s and women’s leagues to a halt.
The issue will be discussed at the association’s annual general meeting, which is set for tonight (March 30) at 6:30 p.m. at the ’52 Canadians meeting room at the Memorial Sports Centre.
Other topics of discussion are expected to included fees for the season and the feasibility of bringing back the “Ball Blast” tournament, which was cancelled in 2009.
Hutton stressed any decisions reached tonight will be stronger if the meeting is well-attended.
“If only a couple of people show up, or five or six, and you’ve got 200 players, what happens it that decisions sometimes seem to be not valued because not many people participated in the decision-making process,” he argued.
“You need to come and basically take responsibility for the league you’re playing in.”
Hutton said the referee issue is especially pressing this season as the Band-Aid solution of having volunteers fill in will not be an option.
“The Ontario Soccer Association is planning to clamp down on referees that are not certified,” he explained, adding the local association could face fines if caught using an official who is not properly certified.
“That’s been a big problem for us in the past,” he noted.
Hutton warned the leagues would be forced to cancel games if no certified referee was available to work, rather than risk fines of up to $1,000.
He noted the association has five officials (referees and linesmen) at its disposal right now, which allows for only two games a night.
Hutton said 10 is the minimum needed to comfortably ensure an uninterrupted summer of soccer while 12—enough for four complete crews of a referee and two linesmen—would be optimal.
“It puts us in a situation where if somebody goes on vacation or can’t make it due to work [commitments], we might be short a referee and we won’t be able to play the game,” he remarked.
Hutton acknowledged a major reason for the shortage is connected to mistreatment of officials in past years. But last season, the league implemented a structure of fines for abuse of officials, which he hopes will curb the problem.
“We hope to get into a process where we’re protecting our referees a lot more,” he stressed. “We’re hoping that maybe we can encourage some referees to come back.
“We know that there were people in the past that said, ‘Well, I’m not taking this abuse any more,’ and their reaction was that the [association] doesn’t protect referees enough.
“We’re in that process of starting to beef up our disciplinary side of things so people don’t feel lambasted when they’re coming to ref a game.”
As well, Hutton said the association will cover the cost for a referee who passes certification.
“If you make the effort to go out and get certified, we will reimburse you because we appreciate your service to the league,” he remarked.
Also up for debate tonight is the possibility of a draft in the women’s league in order to increase parity.
“The goal is for people to have fun when they come and play, and for it to be kind of equal, in that sense,” reasoned Hutton.
“Last year we had one team that won one game out of their 14.
“So we’ll discuss having a draft to even the teams out, and expect to be competitive throughout the entire game and the entire season.
“If you come out and you get beat 10-0 every time, you can’t sustain a league for that long,” he noted.
As well, the association is looking to fill the secretary and treasurer positions on its executive.
Registration dates also will be decided at tonight’s meeting, but games are scheduled to start May 31.
