The child and her mother were the first of two reasons for my machinations: no money, no job, do what one can to survive.
The other reason? The BCSRA and the BCSA: Associations where inefficiency, egotism, racism and incompetence run rampant. Thus, if you can at the very least fix some of the problems extant in the BCSRA, well, what a bonus.
Soccer, we have been informed, causes brain damage not only to players but also, it would seem, to certain moribund committee members. Their particular actions would indicate that brain dead would be a more appropriate conclusion.
A certain number of you were sent the following essay in 1998. Naturally, there was a deafening silence by way of response. Hence this posting. Some of you may understand the reasoning behind it: some will not. Easy to guess who would be sympathetic. So many of you privately groused about the behaviour and personality of certain members of the BCSRA executive. Not only that, but many questioned the very raison d'être of the Association, which basically existed as a simple collector of funds to be distributed within BC.
It seems axiomatic with committees that the most useless members bedevil those efficient and conscientious confrères who yearn for progressive change.
Still not twigged the real purpose behind my apparent malfeasance? Harkness and Sheard were horrified that their little empire, based on the handling of referee fees, would collapse as a result of my actions. That's right and that's all: the loss of their power base. Pathetic.
Preamble
This essay will explore the incompetence, the woeful ignorance and the monolithic tendencies intrinsic to the official soccer authorities in the Lower Mainland.
Argument
As you may be aware, the writer was the Registrar/Treasurer of the British Columbia Soccer Referees’ Association, until April/May of 1997. During the period that this position was held, the reporting of data and the registration of referees was dramatically improved, associated directly with the use of the writer’s own computer and software.
Many times during my incumbency I was informed that I was doing an incredibly good job. Part of my work included checking minutes and producing proofs for printing. Whenever circumstances prevented me from completing these particular tasks I became embarrassed to be a member of the BCSRA Executive Committee. The quality of the minutes produced by others on the executive were lamentable in both style and grammar, let alone accuracy. As a further example, let me say that several times I was jocularly chastised by certain members of the executive as being too good at grammatical English, almost as if a poor standard were to be regarded as more acceptable. I take umbrage at such foolishness.
It must be stated that the amount of work I was responsible for was very substantial, very time consuming, and often very tedious. In the latter part of my tenure I often remarked on the fact that my computer increasingly tended to be flaky, often needing repairs and replacement parts, and that I could not efficiently complete certain tasks as a result. The amount of printing required also wore out my NEC Postscript printer. Costs deducted.
Given the importance of my position, that my requests for financial aid were turned down by every Association in the Lower Mainland, seemed to me to be a gross insult. The Assessment Committee, various League Schedulers and most of the Area Associations were frequently very grateful for the accuracy and speed with which I provided them with referee status and specific listings. It was a pleasure to have Neil Ellett thank me for the service I provided the Assessment Committee. May I point out that John Nielsen, who had received financial aid to produce computer designed educational material, of undoubted importance, agreed with my assessment of my treatment, as, also, did some other rightminded individuals.
That the registration for the BCSA is now (1999) being undertaken directly is, in my opinion, a positive step.. However, the actual two part form would indicate that, once again, the BCSA has not taken the bull by the horns and continued with, let alone improved upon, the computerized, semiautomated system that I had developed. Someone could have contacted me to determine the correct use of modern software, and I would gladly provide assistance even now. Unfortunately, I have been told that the registration drudgery is still being performed by Derryl Hughes, which causes me to doubt that there will be any timely production of data given the history of player (not referee) registration in recent years. I do hope that I am mistaken and, at this date (April '99) there may have been changes. As an important aside, I was told, several times, that my offers to take some part in the players registration system were denied by those directors in the BCSA who were frightened of or threatened by my obvious levels of efficiency and my organisational abilities. Apparently, the incumbent incompetents were at all times to be protected.
I will never forget the disgraceful occurrence at a VASRA meeting when a referee, then two years in membership arrears, who was and maybe still is a Metro scheduler, came up to me and, amongst much foul language, made some flagrant slurs on my character in the presence of two other people, one of whom was Mr Harkness. What I perhaps should have done was immediately stand up and have Ruben Tremarco repeat these statements to the assembly. However, when I asked Mr Harkness to do something at a later date he refused, wondering what the fuss was about. At least John Nielsen did remember what was said and agreed with my recollections and my views on the matter.
On another occasion, a fellow BCSRA Executive member, at an Italian League dinner, asked me whether I would have married my current wife (a beautiful, highly intelligent lady from Trinidad) had I been younger. And then he made the same kind of statement about his own wife. That kind of person, Mr Ciresi, should not even be a referee. Racism is abhorrent to all right thinking people, and certainly has no place in the refereeing fraternity. Drunkenness is no excuse.
What you have been missing
Having registered a domain name and rented a hosting service to post information, the following items would have available on the Web for the common good. In no particular order of importance: a current list of referees, with phone numbers, game preferences, fitness status and other necessary matters; the by-laws and constitutions, where appropriate, of the BCSA, the BCSRA, the FIFA; the Laws of the Game, with graphics; the Referees’ Handbook; searchable maps to locate the playing fields of the Lower Mainland; relevant news and information about clinics, fitness tests, etc.; links to other sites of interest and importance; critical articles and essays; registration, using Visa payment, via the internet, for referees and players; and anything else that people thought was of importance to Association Football, not only for BC but for any other Provincial Association. There really needs to be a readily available centralised database. I still might do all this. Depends if certain members proffer apologies. And when I attain decent monetary remuneration for effort performed.
Payback time; it cuts both ways.
Paul Dickins
Addendum.
Relevant Information: