Once upon a time on a sloping cow-pasture behind a small village in Wales, every Saturday morning a gang of young lads would gather to play football. They would throw coats down to mark the "goals", pick up teams by alternating players as they arrived, and simply play until their stomachs told them it was time to go home for lunch. Never did these enthusiastic soccer players have a referee—quite simply, because it wasn’t necessary.

Why? Because this game was not a contest, it was merely play. Yes, goals were scored, but no one counted them. There was never an offside, because none of the players really knew what it was. There were occasional fouls, but nothing hurtful or vicious. The players would gather around anyone who threw his weight around, and warn him that he wouldn’t be allowed to play unless he knocked off the rough stuff. The object of these Saturday mornings was not competition, but playing to have fun.

I will argue that whenever playing to have fun is the only motive behind any soccer game or soccer league, you don’t need referees. But if coaches and parents are keeping score and recording wins and losses, then someone had better adjudicate the contest, even if the players are under 10 years of age. Let’s take a look at what we need.

For the U10 players in matches that are not 11-a-side, you need a referee who will do little more than make sure that play stops when the ball has gone out of the field, that no player picks up the ball during play, and that no one gets hurt because of a player’s over-enthusiasm.

Training such an official—and we need lots more of them—will be a short and easy task if the candidate is a teenager who plays the game. His principal problem will not be the subtle aspects of offside or advantage, but the not-so-subtle behavior of adults who don’t like what he is doing! Recruiting parents to do these simple games will help solve the problem of spectators’ behavior.

Introduce 11-a-side and offside and things become a bit more complicated. At this level, training must include Law 11 and some information about physical contact, especially when the players are U12 and some of them may be approaching puberty.

The next age groups, involving the notoriously fractious early teenagers, require an authority figure to keep control; a properly trained and licensed official is best.

About the Author
Bob Evans was a referee in the professional leagues for many years, a FIFA Referee for the United States, became the National Director of Referee Instruction there, and eventually the first American to be named a FIFA Referee Instructor. He is the author (with Tony Waiters) of "Teaching Offside" and (with Ed Bellion) of "For the Good of the Game" a new book about techniques and practical wisdom for today’s referees. Both are published by Youth Sports Publishing ).