I had to deal with lots of conflict in junior sport. Basically there was only one way I could handle it and that was to stick to rules and guide lines that been put in place. Even if they seemed wrong at times they were usually there for a reason. All hell would break loose if I was not consistent in training and on game day. Young players needed boundaries and consequences.
In our junior sport we had junior referees as well, it was great for the junior refs to earn a bit of pocket money and helped build up a not so popular, necessary part of the game. Unfortunately being so young led to a lot of incorrect calls or even no rules at times. This led to things getting out of control. If any of my players did anything unsporting like I would call them off, even if the referee did not penalize them, even if it meant losing the game.
Conflict was always inevitable when two players were chasing after the one ball. I found the trick was to not lose my cool or get angry, just make a decision quickly and play on. Moving on to the next contest or conflict seemed to be the best way to forget and learn about the past one.
I used to be worried that the way I deal with all the drama made me very unpopular and sure there was a few that did not like my approach but surprisingly it won me a lot more friends than what I was expecting.
