Local Soccer Club Host Silent Weekends
It may seem silly, even ridiculous, that people are being told to stay quiet at a youth soccer game. However, we are addressing an issue regarding an ongoing situation that is currently happening in Illinois soccer, state wide, for both the house and travel teams.
Referees state wide are quitting because the sideline behavior from coaches and parents has gotten so out of control that many referees feel it's just not worth dealing with it anymore. One referee assigner in the area sent a recent report stating that at the start of 2016 he had 260 referees available to work games across a suburban area of several towns and cities. As of last week 80 of them have yet to take a game and only 100 of them picked up work for last weekend.
We should also note that many of our referees are children, themselves. Some of them are as young as 13-14 years old. It's hard enough to get them to have the courage to go out in front of players, parents and coaches to make decisions they know half of the crowd won't like. When they are criticized, or insulted, or complained to, they simply will find a different outlet to make some money. This has actually happened within the Palatine Celtic Soccer program this season and as a board of directors we are trying to help lessen this concern.
That is why we have decided to implement Silent Weekend to give the referees a little respectful breathing room during the games. We fully support that their decisions, right or wrong, must be accepted and respected. Sometimes the calls they make will go in your teams favor, and sometimes they won't. But the decision of the referee is always final and we have to respect their role and the decisions that they make during every games.
Additionally, the American youth soccer system has recently recognized that over-coaching young players stifles their creativity and development, which the international soccer community has been telling us for years. There is plenty of research that shows children playing in games actually benefit from being allowed to play without distractions. Silent Weekend is a way for the Celtic league to encourage parents to "let 'em play" the game their way rather than the way we want them to play. It's an opportunity for our coaches to notice how players learn from each other during a game and appreciate all the ways the game teaches them how to play. We expect that coaches and parents will let our kids explore their potential by making their own choices on the field instead of being told what to do throughout a game. It also allows players to be free to set their own level of competition rather than play to our adult expectations.
Feedback from the club wide announcement has been favorable throughout the league and some teams are gearing up by making signs to cheer on players and show team spirit in a highly positive and creative way. We are hopeful that by taking this step back for only one weekend it will allow all of us the chance to reflect upon what's truly the most important part of youth sports - developing healthy, confident and respectful behaviors in our athletes. And the best way we can do that is by being good role models for them to follow during their games.
House Recreational teams will participate October 15 &16 and Travel teams will participate October 22 &23.