Youth football culture is getting harder to watch. I say this as a parent, a volunteer referee and a man who wants children to play team sport. Today is Day 2148 of my daily run, and I spent the miles talking through what I saw on the pitch this weekend.

This is my tenth season in children's football. I started looking after my eldest son's team at under 6s. He is now in the under 15s. My daughter plays in an under 13 girls team and my youngest son plays under 11s. I have watched all three move up through the age groups, and I have watched the touchline change with them.

I referee a lot. I have refereed children's football for years, from toddlers up to the under 15s. At that age the boys are men in size with boys' brains. This season I gave my first red card. I have seen several fights. Some were between children and some were between parents. I have heard abuse aimed at referees, coaches and children that has no place near a pitch with children on it. It has no place in front of adults either.

Today I refereed two games back to back. The first was my daughter's under 13 girls. They play in the bottom league of their age group. They lost one nil, but the game was competitive and played in good spirit. Nothing happened worth reporting, which is how a children's game should feel.

The second was the under 15 boys, in the third league of about seven. Here I notice a pattern. The higher the standard, the more issues I see. I mean no disrespect to any level of football. I am describing what I have seen.

During the game an opposition player scuffed a shot. The ball ran to a teammate and became a decent pass. I made a joke. I asked whether it was a pass or a shot, and I tapped him on the shoulder. I wanted to keep him on side. A referee's first job is welfare, so every player goes home happy and uninjured.

He told me, with a swear word, not to touch him.

At that level, those words earn a red card. I did not give one. Contact between officials and children needs care these days, and I accepted I had misjudged the moment. I walked away and told him I would keep an eye on him. We spoke briefly afterwards and left things fine.

I keep returning to the audacity. A 15 year old spoke like this to a volunteer. This is not my career. I referee because the league is short of referees, and I do the job as fairly as I know how, even when the decision goes against my own team. I take the safety and welfare of the children seriously.

I do not blame the child. My wife and I have tried to teach our own children respect for officials, for elders and for anyone in a position of responsibility. Not one of them would speak like this. Respect is taught, and a child who has not been shown it has not had good role models. What worries me is the kind of environment such a child comes from.

There is an old saying in the UK. Rugby is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen, and football is a gentleman's game played by hooligans. Rugby holds respect for the referee at every age. Football tolerates more disrespect. I did not take the saying seriously until I saw how far the tolerance has gone.

I want to be accurate here. The behaviour comes from a small minority. I am lucky to live in a decent part of the country, and I wonder what other areas face. But I see the minority more often each season, and one player or one parent shapes the afternoon for everyone around them.

The risk is bigger than one match. Team sport teaches children communication, social skills and how to work with others. I tell everyone to get their children involved. If the toxic behaviour keeps growing, parents will decide the cost is too high, and children will lose those benefits.

I do not have an answer. I know what I can control. I turn up, I referee fairly, I protect the children on the pitch and I behave on the touchline the way I hope others will. Next season is my eldest son's under 16 year, my last with his team. I have not decided whether I follow my daughter or my youngest son afterwards.

This is the same lesson the run gives me. Consistency matters more than intensity. I have run on 2148 consecutive days. I have covered 16,498.72km of the 40,075km lap of the world I am working towards, with 23,576.28km remaining. I run in barefoot-style footwear and film every run. The aim is to raise £1M for children's causes, including Great Ormond Street and BBC Children in Need. Children are the reason behind the whole effort, so a pitch where children feel unsafe or disrespected stays on my mind.

A culture changes slowly, one decision at a time. A lap of the world is the same, one run at a time.

If you are involved in teenage football, tell me what you see. Leave a comment, follow the run and share the vlog if you believe in the mission.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/6fwy0HpCBGY