Soccer refs in small Quebec town will wear body cams to curb verbal abuse
Delphine Nault says she was on the verge of tears while refereeing her first U12 soccer game last sum‐ mer in Windsor, Que. about 20 kilometres north‐ east of Sherbrooke in the Eastern Townships.
The 14-year-old, who has been refereeing for about two years, says parents yelled at her.
"I didn't really know how to react," said Nault.
Nault says the last season was particularly difficult, and the incident even made her uneasy about refereeing that age group.
But she's hopeful next sea‐ son will be different due to a pilot project in the town of about 5,000 which will grant some referees access to body cameras in an attempt to curb verbal abuse they expe‐ rience on the job.
WATCH | Will body cams make referees safer?:
An attempt to keep ref‐ erees in the profession
Martin Tremblay, presi‐ dent of the Minor Soccer As‐ sociation of Windsor — which is behind the project — says the abuse is scaring people away from the profession.
"We have problems keep‐ ing our referees.… We're fed up," said Temblay.
"Our referees are on aver‐ age between 14 and 17 years old, so they're really young.
It's often these comments that are quite harsh, which we see very regularly at almost every match."
He says the comments to‐ ward referees generally come from parents who are unhap‐ py with the calls on the field.
Tremblay pushed forward with the idea in 2022, after an incident during a game that ended up before a disciplinary inquiry.
"We were asked if we had footage, but in that moment nothing was being recorded," said Tremblay.
"There was an upward trend. And after talking with other club representatives, we realized that it was wide‐ spread."
He says they bought four cameras for $250 each.
Hockey Quebec also struggling to retain refer‐ ees
Hockey Quebec might fol‐ low in Windsor's footsteps as they are struggling to keep of‐ ficials longer-term, says Stéphane Auger.
A former referee with the NHL, he's now the director of officiating, player safety and rules and regulations at Hock‐ ey Quebec.
"The average official stays two years in hockey and it's similar to other sports in the province," says Auger.
He says those first few years are the hardest as a ref‐ eree, with some starting at just 13 years old. Auger was 15 when he started.
"Sometimes the officials are not even a year older than the players they're officiat‐ ing," said Auger.
"These are the kids that we need to take care of and the cameras could be an option."
Ref hopes parents and coaches are 'more gentle'
Tremblay's 16-year-old daughter, Kelly-Ann, is a soc‐ cer referee in Windsor and welcomes the initiative.
As much as she loves her summer job, she says she's seen things go sideways. That's what happened the first time she arbitrated a game with 14-year-old play‐ ers.
"I made a decision for a penalty.… The coach wasn't really happy, so he insult[ed] me," said Kelly-Ann.
"I couldn't do anything be‐ cause I'm only 16 and he was like 40."
She says she's seen the im‐ pact of verbal abuse on her friends — some of whom de‐ cided to not return to refer‐ eeing.
Although she has consid‐ ered quitting, she says having a camera next year keeps her hopeful.
"The coach [and] players will be, I hope, more gentle with us," she said.