Delphine Nault says she was on the verge of tears while refereeing her first U12 soccer game last summer in Windsor, Que. about 20 kilometres northeast 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 season 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 experience on the job.
Tremblay pushed forward with the idea in 2022, after an incident during a game that ended up before a disciplinary inquiry. Ontario soccer refs start wearing body cams to deter parental abuse.
“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 widespread.”
He says they bought four cameras for $250 each.