'I despise you': Referee's withering email to children's parents on sidelines
A fed-up kids’ soccer referee has put the whistle away and penned a withering email slamming the behaviour of parents at his games.
Beverly Hills AYSO referee admin Avery Krut penned a long email annoying his departure last week, LA Weekly reports.
The email in full was obtained and posted by The Ankler blog and seems to start off politely enough.
“Parents, Coaches and Referees,” the email reads.
“We are all in this together to create a fun, fair and safe experience for the players.
“However, the ‘we are all in this together’ doesn’t mean that everyone gets to pick and choose how they interact with each other.”
Mr Krut goes on to describe how the sideline has “the toughest job of all” and while he wants parents and coaches to cheer he doesn’t want them making comments about referees.
“This is a tough job. Impulse control is incredibly hard, particularly when it involves our children,” he writes.
The referee explains how the crews’ job is to apply the laws of the game “as best they can” taking into account age and player ability.
He writes while comments from coaches and parents “even when well meaning” is at best a distraction.
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But then he lets the parents have it.
“I have come to despise so many of you and I hold so many of you in contempt,” Mr Krut writes.
“Your behaviour on the sidelines has, for far too long, been disrespectful and you are damaging the children. You have said nasty things to and about too many Referees and it must come to an end.
“I can no longer be involved with so many people who feel so entitled.”
Mr Krut makes mention of people threatening to write up a referee because “he was wearing a protective boot” as “the last straw”.
“The behaviour on the sidelines has been dispicable too often,” he writes.
“It’s too bad, the vast majority of you are wonderful people but I need to depart the land of entitlement where too many of you think that everything has to go your way and you take every comment or email I write as a personal attack on something you hold dear, when all I’m doing is trying to get your attention that you have an obligation to volunteer.
“So, I’m done… and it’s your loss.”
He writes that he would consider a return to his role if the “culture is redacted” and that while readers “may not like” his tone what he has written “is the truth”.
Mr Krut has been a volunteer with AYSO for about 15 years – first as a parent/ coach, then in various officiating roles. None of these roles were paid.
He told the LA Weekly most of the parents think “their kids are all mini-Messis” and that he’s had people “say everything to me” while refereeing.
