Abuse at U10 and U12 matches driving refs out of GAA, says former All-Ireland final official

Connacht GAA referees chairman and former inter-county referee Marty Duffy  says abuse of referees at underage club games has become worryingly “palatable”.

8 August 2015; Referee Marty Duffy. GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Final, Monaghan v Tyrone. Croke Park, Dublin. Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

Newly-trained GAA referees are quitting refereeing less than a year after taking up the whistle because of the abuse they are subjected to when officiating at U10 and U12 games.

That’s according to Connacht GAA referees chairman and former inter-county referee Marty Duffy who says abuse of referees at underage club games has become worryingly “palatable”.

In his report to Connacht convention, Duffy implored clubs to stop justifying the abuse hurled at referees by their members and instead call out those verbally abusing match officials.

The 2009 All-Ireland football final referee said “one of the biggest issues facing the association” is the retention of referees, warning of fixtures not being fulfilled because of an inadequate supply of referees.

Duffy added that recruitment and retention has become particularly problematic because prospective and newly-trained referees see how serving referees are being treated and feel they don’t need the hassle.

“Newly-trained referees go out in their first year to learn their trade by refereeing U10 and U12 matches. There are years when we see up to 50% of the newly-trained referees give up in that first year. The main reason they quit refereeing – mainly because of the abuse they are subjected to, and again this is at U10 and U12 level,” said Duffy.

“How can any parents or mentors justify to their child this kind of behaviour? Is winning an U10 game that important? There are many good initiatives to show children modern role models, such as ‘if you can’t see it, you can’t be it’.

“If the same children are seeing their parents and team officials verbally abusing referees during an U10 or U12 game, what message does that send to the child about their future attitude to referees and to discipline in general?

“People make mistakes, referees make mistakes, fact. What are not facts are the theories of biases and incompetence that are hurtled so readily by people that, in the main, have never seen a rulebook, not to mind having read one.

“I believe the solution starts at club level. How can clubs that are full of volunteers at every level stand by and watch their team officials, parents, and club members verbally abusing fellow volunteers? If it happened to any other group of volunteers within the organisation, there would be uproar at the next club meeting - because it is referees it seems to be palatable.

“This problem won’t go away until clubs step up and say to their members, this is not acceptable behaviour, instead of condoning it and justifying it as some are at present.

“If the present climate continues, there will not be enough referees to facilitate the playing of all underage games, in particular. Games will be postponed and rescheduled, and parents and supporters won’t like that either.” 

At inter-county level, Duffy expressed concern at the social media abuse the game’s leading referees are being subjected to.

“These people are called keyboard warriors, in fact they are keyboard cowards! Warriors go out and fight for what they believe in and try to make a difference, these cowards won’t even reveal their true identity.

“For some unknown reason, when someone has the courage and the interest to volunteer to be a referee, other people within our Association think it is acceptable to verbally abuse them and what is even worse is that seemingly reasonable people justify this by saying, ‘sure it's only the referee, what did they expect’. This is not acceptable for this to continue to happen.”