Fall sports are underway in Carmel. Every weekend, players, fans and coaches come to events filled with passion and love for the games. Frenzied fervor can be unleashed after a bad call and can often be aimed at the referees.

“I hear a lot of trash, occasionally from the stands, a lot from the players and immature coaches that don’t understand the game,” Kenji Tomozawa, USA hockey referee and junior, said.

Tomozawa became a referee because he had been playing hockey for several years and he said the job pays well. However, he said that the contemporary view of referees can be a deterrent to the game.

“I think players have an unfair view. I mean, before I started reffing, I thought (referees) were a bunch of jerks who didn’t care about the players. Now I see as a ref that players don’t respect refs enough because it’s actually a lot of hard work. Plus they do it to make sure the game is safe,” Tomozawa said.

Jacob Bellner, a Carmel Dads Club soccer referee and junior, explained his rationale for the way players view referees. He said a player’s view really depends on the decision-making skills of the referee.

“If a ref does a good job, they will love the ref, but if he makes a bad call, the players will yell at him, or the coaches will get into it,” Bellner said.

Last month, while refereeing a youth soccer game, Bellner said that such an altercation took place when a coach got upset after a “questionable call”.

“It was a game between an undefeated team and one with some losses. The latter had a great scoring opportunity, and then the keeper of the undefeated team comes up to the player who was trying to dribble around him and then shoves him to the ground. I immediately called a PK (penalty kick) and the coach of the undefeated team stormed onto the field saying it was a terrible call. He was completely nuts, and I explained to him why I called it. He eventually calmed down, but he was not happy. He was all in my face and saying that it was not a good call,” said Bellner.

The coaches, Tomozawa said, most likely shape a player’s view of referees. He said that when players start out in sports at early ages, coaches can be immature and very inexperienced. This, he said, can lead to learned disrespect toward referees.

IHSAA basketball referee, Andrew Conley, said, “I do not mind at all if a coach talks to me in a respectful manner, asks good questions and is positive about the game and my officiating.  Sometimes a coach will cross that line by becoming louder, using disrespectful language and generally being a ‘poor sport.’ When that happens, Conley said, the referee needs to step in. “I try to communicate with the coaches in these situations and let them know that I won’t tolerate abusive language or behavior,”he said.

Tomozawa described an account of such behavior. “During a weekend game, early Saturday morning, I didn’t call a penalty on a player, because he jumped into the boards and wasn’t checked. He tried to sell it. Anyway, the coach asked me why it wasn’t a penalty, so I explained my reasoning. Obviously the coach didn’t believe me because he began yelling at me. His words culminated in the statement, “that is the worst call I’ve ever heard. At that point, I skated away,” he said.

Icehound and senior Spencer Lyon said, “If you’re doing it (talking back)  at a young age and no one stops you, it becomes a habit.” Lyon has been playing high school sports for four years, and he said he has seen first hand how talking back can ruin a game. He said players need to listen to referees in order to win. Even if Lyon thinks the official made a mistake, he said, “I don’t let a bad call get to my head. I just focus on putting another point on the scoreboard.” Lyon does admit he that he can see a trend of disrespect toward referees, and he sees it as growing.

Conley said, “I feel that the modern player does communicate more than players from 10 to 15 years ago.  I think this might be due to increased competition and increased pressure to succeed.” Coaches and players need to understand the fact that referees are not biased toward either team and are trying to do the best job they can do, he added.

Tomozawa said he thinks this tradition of back-talking referees exists in the realm of CHS athletes as well.

Tomozawa said, “I can see it in the less serious programs and less serious teams, especially the rec levels where they’re not taught the discipline of a travel or professional team. So, there is a tradition there.”

To curb this, Tomozawa said that organizations like Dads Club and Indianapolis Youth Hockey Association (IYHA), “need to look for more mature and knowledgeable coaches that can teach the sport.” This change, he said, will not only improve athlete and referee relationships but sports in general.