santa sangria
RefChat Addict
And it looks like I will go to Cascais again in 2020!
I've previously attended two Iber Cup tournaments thanks to Referee Abroad and I am very happy to get the chance to attend Cascais for a second time.
If you are interested then I recommend applying to Referee Abroad's 2020 tournaments now because places are being allocated already now that applications are open.
The change this year is that they have raised the fees (from 50 to 130 GBP/EUR) for Cascais. So it's not free - when you factor in flights and probably 50 a night if you want a twin room rather than the free dorm - but for me easy to justify, especially as a unique training opportunity and also if I compare to doing some other week-long "extreme sports" holiday!
There have been questions before about the Iber Cups and how the refereeing is organized, the practical stuff etc. Cascais is pretty complex with something like 30 pitches across Cascais-Estoril, massive tournament, 60 plus international referees, last year teams like Juve, Real, Blackburn U15s, Benfica U9 (eventful!)... I was totally happy with the organization. Yes, you have to get up early and make it across town for long days of games... not everyone can get a glamour final in big stadium - if there's only 3-4 big finals, that's only 9-12 officials on the field!... There's always the wish for more assessors... though TBH last year was pretty awesome with Bobby Madley (ex Prem) and Rob Atkin (current champo AR) giving lots of advice plus various other experienced assessors.
Anyway, if you are thinking about it, get your application in now. Barcelona is a great first tournament... and there are others at http://www.refereeabroad.com/tournaments/
I've previously attended two Iber Cup tournaments thanks to Referee Abroad and I am very happy to get the chance to attend Cascais for a second time.
If you are interested then I recommend applying to Referee Abroad's 2020 tournaments now because places are being allocated already now that applications are open.
The change this year is that they have raised the fees (from 50 to 130 GBP/EUR) for Cascais. So it's not free - when you factor in flights and probably 50 a night if you want a twin room rather than the free dorm - but for me easy to justify, especially as a unique training opportunity and also if I compare to doing some other week-long "extreme sports" holiday!
There have been questions before about the Iber Cups and how the refereeing is organized, the practical stuff etc. Cascais is pretty complex with something like 30 pitches across Cascais-Estoril, massive tournament, 60 plus international referees, last year teams like Juve, Real, Blackburn U15s, Benfica U9 (eventful!)... I was totally happy with the organization. Yes, you have to get up early and make it across town for long days of games... not everyone can get a glamour final in big stadium - if there's only 3-4 big finals, that's only 9-12 officials on the field!... There's always the wish for more assessors... though TBH last year was pretty awesome with Bobby Madley (ex Prem) and Rob Atkin (current champo AR) giving lots of advice plus various other experienced assessors.
Anyway, if you are thinking about it, get your application in now. Barcelona is a great first tournament... and there are others at http://www.refereeabroad.com/tournaments/