So, for all who don't know, I am a Club Youth Soccer Referee.
And, like any soccer referee, I find the parents a horrendously annoying part of the game... primarily because every mistake their little boy or girl makes is somehow my fault.
It doesn't matter if they're lazy and slow to get to the ball, or unable to handle a challenge from another player, it always seems to fall to me when they start losing.
Couple this with the fact that they don't know the rules (and typically assume they know them better than me, because clearly they can't be wrong, even though I was disabused of numerous misconceptions about the game when I went in for training) and the curious idea that their opinion actually matters on the field, and you get a recipe that is not only annoying, but dangerous. Parents can get belligerant and even violent.

Frankly, I think it's an extension of the American entitlement delusion. This hilarious idea that every red-blooded citizen deserves to have his or her opinion heard, regardless of his or her technical expertise, or lack thereof.

Here's a snippet of a conversation I had explaining the situation to a friend.

[19:30] Kitsune: You're there on hand to be yelled at.
[19:30] Kitsune: So they yell at you.
[19:31] jachranit: Buwaha
[19:31] jachranit: Pretty much
[19:31] jachranit: People like to feel important and empowered
[19:31] jachranit: And it's a bitter, difficult pill to swallow, the fact that a referee doesn't give a shit what you think or do.
[19:32] jachranit: Because his performance is evaluated and his future pay and activity determined by his superiors, not by you
[19:33] Kitsune: Well said.
[19:36] jachranit: Danke

Really, though, it wouldn't be a feasible arrangement if they did. They A) have a poor grasp of the rules (and insist they know better) and B) have poor vantage angles.
[19:36] jachranit: Might as well ask passing laypeople to pass judgement on an engineer's bridge.
[19:36] Kitsune: Yep.
[19:37] jachranit: and are, at best, biased ;D
[19:37] jachranit: So passing mafia laypeople with vested interests in the local ferry system


In any case, despite the erroneous whining of the losing team, I walked home that day with 61 bucks from 2 hours and 10 minutes of game time. Their complaints will fall on deaf ears, because the people in charge of me know exactly what they're getting at, and I will return to the fields next weekend unscathed and unbothered. Heck, this stuff happens all the time to our best and most experienced referees.

The worst are the ones who claim to have been referees 'for years.' You can smell the bull. And if they aren't giving you crap, you know they're being biased, because if they'd ever been in the same situation they'd know exactly what's going on. (Mind you, I did turn in one fellow referee for being verbally abusive to a referee team who was doing their job, claiming his being a member gave him the authority to do so. Abusing your position to try and gain an advantage is just unprofessional and wrong.)