I have witnessed children crying because their parents are involved in fighting with the opponent parents, referees abandoning games and walking away from them, never to return to the game because of threats and abusive comments directed at them.

Committee members have stepped down due to aggressive parents, and sometimes managers. Campaigns like Don’t X The Line must be continued to be supported by the decent people who support the sport for all the right reasons.

Together we must protect our children and referees, and bring the sportsmanship and fair play back into grassroots football.

I was at one of the local parks one Sunday morning and I stopped to listen to a few abusive parents at a junior league game. All hell broke loose between the parents and players. The referee was running for his life, as a lot targeted him. Luckily it was brought to a halt by the committee and no one was seriously hurt. Why should anyone have to put up with this sort of behavior at any sporting event? This is a learning processes for our youngsters isn’t it?

This was the moment that I decided something had to be done, especially to defend the referees, as unfortunately they are the ones in the firing line from all sides.

I discussed a campaign being formed with one of the local referees who told me something had to be done. Once I had returned home I started to put pen to paper with ideas; and came up with the title of Don’t X The Line, after my wife Shirley put her input of the X instead of the word cross, which was a brilliant idea. Early that morning when I awoke at 4am, in my head were the ideas for forming the campaign. I got up went downstairs and wrote all the details down; after just 48 hours I had all the literature back from the printers and I was ready to launch Don’t X The Line.

In January 2004 I met first with Everton Football Club, shortly followed by Liverpool FC, they both approved of the campaign and gave us their full support, with the use of logo’s and museum tours for the teams and spectators who showed the best sportsmanship throughout the season within their leagues. Before long I was nominated for a Barclaycard award by Everton FC, which to my astonishment and embarrassment, I won. Don’t X The Line became an award winning campaign. Years on we are still attracting high profile support and in years to come, and as long as it takes to improve a better life for our referees and children, we will still be here.

Referees Expect Sportsmanship Participation Enthusiasm Communication Teamwork

Why Can't We?

Mal Lee