Parents of child and youth footballers are in agreement with frustrated coaches who are fed up of preparing their teams for matches only to see the boys and girls not get games because match officials do not turn up.
There is widespread concern with the Cayman Islands Football Association that there are not enough officials for youth games and it is affecting morale amongst youngsters who are being put off playing and turning to other sports or activities as a result.
One parent who insisted on remaining anonymous said: “I’m glad you wrote that article about coaches wanting unity about referees not turning up to youth games, because I have been trying to hold back expressing my feelings in exposing the awful things that are happening to youth football for fear of retribution towards my son and also our team.”
Another parent added: “The players themselves are fed up over the way that they are being treated, because all the emphasis is on the senior teams. I told CIFA you can’t have good senior players if you don’t develop the juniors. There is no programme to track the juniors to help them excel in football. I personally campaigned for this when I was on the youth committee and also spoke to Jeffrey Webb (CIFA president) about it on many occasions.
“It’s a shame that we pay so much money to CIFA for youth teams and there aren’t even officials for the matches. As a parent I’m really disgusted. Good thing my son plays other sports and excels in them as well.”
Parents would like to see more referees like Dwayne Ebanks and Gary ‘The Wizard’ Whittaker who are extremely patient and understanding with kids. Whittaker is still a player, with Cayman Athletic and other players could follow his example and get trained to officiate matches. Even former Elite player Jermaine ‘Tiger’ Wilson who was 16 at the time, passed a referee’s course. He said it made him understand the game better and actually helped his football.
To put things in perspective, there are on average 30 matches a week Island-wide and only 38 active officials available. The officials often have to travel from one end of Grand Cayman to the other during work time because youth matches start at 4pm weekdays. Sometimes they turn up late because of work or family commitments but do not get a sympathetic ear for putting themselves out.
From the wealth of talent at primary school level – just seen in the play-offs – if the youth footballers don’t get the support they deserve then they are lost to the sport or never reach their potential.
Of the hundreds of matches played so far this season, only around eight have been postponed because of no shows by officials. That means at least 98 per cent have gone ahead which is not a bad record considering the lack of resources. All things considered, it seems CIFA are doing well.
The officials feel that parents and clubs could take more responsibility in officiating themselves rather than just criticise. Also, the officials when overseeing matches often get abuse from coaches and parents alike, sometimes with the threat of violence. This has partly put a dampener on recruiting new refs.
Alfredo Whittaker is head of the referees department and also assessor and instructor of referees. “Unfortunately, I have to agree with the statement of some of the parents, referees and coaches,” he said.
“The reality is that there is a significant amount of games being played per week. We do not have the numbers to cover all these games. Of the group of referees we do have, about 80 or 90 per cent of them do not have the time, so it’s very much a small group of us who are stretched to cover youth games.
“In many instances with the younger age groups we could easily get teenagers or senior players to referee. The Under-13s is not a difficult league to ref. Even parents who complain do not want to come forward and assist in anything. We simply do not have the manpower for all these leagues. The girls league is starting soon so we will be even more stretched.”
The overall refereeing standards in the Cayman Islands is exceptionally high. FIFA is impressed with the fitness and professionalism of officials here and statistically, local refs are only second to Jamaica ability wise in the whole of the Caribbean.
Female ref Caline Reid-Willis recently officiated in World Cup matches in Cuba. Refs like Livingstone Bailey, Willian Petit, Alfredo Whittaker, Kenville Holder and Dwayne Ebanks are called for FIFA international duty.
“We have a situation which I don’t think is just in football but sport in general,” Whittaker said. “We have parents who even at Under-13 level they don’t make it easy for refs and when you ask for their help they’re not willing to do it and just want to criticise and tear you apart.
“For example, in West Bay we have three teams, Future, Elite and Scholars International. When two West Bay teams are playing we could easily have a neutral referee from the third team officiating, maybe a senior player. In George Town and Bodden Town we could do the same, but we just don’t have people coming forward and it’s unfortunate.”
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It’s a shame that we pay so much money to CIFA for youth teams No wonder the children are disillusioned with quotes like this from parents. The monetary contribution made by each team to CIFA is peanuts in comparison to any other youth football system in the world. Players, Coaches and parents turn up and have everything supplied for them yet they still moan. CIFA is underfunded FACT. How do they increase their funds so they can expand their referee department? Have people not sneak into games when they have to pay? Increase team fees? The money has to come from somewhere, if you want a service you have to pay for it. In England three match officials cost around 70 pounds per game, in America around 80 dollars give or take. If other countries if the teams don’t want to pay and or can’t afford it then they have to referee the game themselves. But Caymanians won’t be proactive and do that; they will just point the finger and blame someone else. The reality is simple, don’t expect champagne on a beer budget, youth football is very important but without funding no organized sports team/league in the world can function properly. As a parent I’m really disgusted. Good thing my son plays other sports and excels in them as well. Disgusted? Really, you need a reality check, if something disgusts you then do something about it rather than sit back and point fingers. I hope your son or daughter doesn’t have your attitude, this cycle of selfishness and greed needs to be cut out, the expectation of what CIFA is suppose to do for players on this islands is unreal, it’s not the Premier League, its recreational standard football at best. If you want to play then PAY.