The refs are mostly too old and can't or won't run in the summer heat - and it hasn't been overwhelmingly hot this year so far. Refs are routinely making calls from 40-50 yards away. There needs to be a greater effort to get younger guys in their. One young guy (I am guessing early 30s) yesterday was excellent. Ran his [lacrosse] off, and was very authoritative and vocal explaining his calls. Always on top of the play, and even when he got something "wrong", parents didn't say anything because the guy was giving it 100% and was getting everything else right.
Its very frustrating for me to see an obvious wrong call (or wrong non-call) when I, on the sideline, are MUCH closer to the play than the ref is. A big one, at the younger levels, is the stick on stick, and then the ball carrier falls. That should never be a push, but from 40 yards away its impossible to tell and often these refs are blowing the whistle. Its confusing to a 10 year old who thinks he made a proper check and made a real effort to stay off the kid's back.
Does NCLOA / SCLOA encourage teams to rate the officials at their games? This could be a step in the right direction if it doesn't exist today. Give positive feedback for the young guy doing it right & give poor feedback for the guy who is making the call from across the field.
This is probably an issue across all sports, not just lacrosse.
