but top class referee's at the highest level of club, and in proffessional soccer and youth soccer in Europe, do not, from my observation have much chit chat before the game.
maybe NCSL Div. 3 or WAGS Div. 4 or ODSL is different... but I know all things vary according to level in soccer. Perhaps referee behavior is one of them.
I must confess, however, that when a referee talks with the team before the game-at a youth level, I ussually guess (sometimes I'm right and sometimes I'm wrong-but mostly right) that it's a new inexperienced referee, who is trying to take the bull by the horns by laying down the law.
Interestingly, while in Holland, I noticed the referee's did not even inspect equiptment. Instead, once the game started, if your equiptment was illeagle, you left the field to repair it and played a man down until it was fixed (this was mostly an earing violation-as everyone wore shinguards)-there was, however, no inspection. For all I know, the referee's didn't speak English and that's why there was no talk... but all I said after the game was "good game"
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