The Ref Stop

Norway Cup 2012

Reffariiii

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Brilliant tournament this year, easily one of the best experiences refereeing wise, that I have had.

Anybody thinking of coming next year?

Also, its a great insight into the, how can I put it, 'culture' of Oslo, thank goodness that I will be 18 next year :P

And by the way, never take a photograph of a 'lady of the night'... Or get into a lift with Alan Carr... :P
 
The Ref Stop
Brilliant tournament this year, easily one of the best experiences refereeing wise, that I have had.

Anybody thinking of coming next year?

Also, its a great insight into the, how can I put it, 'culture' of Oslo, thank goodness that I will be 18 next year :p

And by the way, never take a photograph of a 'lady of the night'... Or get into a lift with Alan Carr... :p

Or watch the Community Shield with a die-hard Rochdale fan...
 
Brilliant tournament this year, easily one of the best experiences refereeing wise, that I have had.

Anybody thinking of coming next year?

Also, its a great insight into the, how can I put it, 'culture' of Oslo, thank goodness that I will be 18 next year :p

And by the way, never take a photograph of a 'lady of the night'... Or get into a lift with Alan Carr... :p

we are looking at prospect of sending refereeing group to tournament for experience and development.

Can you give me some idea of tournament arrangements? e.g. level of comp', playing facility, accomodation, flights etc...
 
Dommer will be able to give you much more detailed information, but I can certainly try and help.

Basically, you arrive into Oslo and catch a bus into one of the suburbs. When you get there you will see around 30+ pitches along both sides of the road, with Umbro and Norway cup adverts accross the place.

The referees' stay at a school, wich is a building designated wholy to the referees' and referees' department. We stay in a classroom, wich you can fit around 15 into, ond beds, that have been provided (you need a sleeping bag though). Although its not 5 star hotel, its ideal if you are a newcomer, and came on your own knowing nobody, as you know you are in the safe hands of other referees' and sleeping in these classrooms helps you make news friends, settle in and generally have a good time.

If mixing with new people is not what you are after and you wanted to stay as a group, then thats fine too. Correct me if I'm wrong Rocky but I think thats what the Wolverhampton RA do?

As far as arrangements go, you have brekfast and lucnh in the referees' school, and dinner is at a massive sports hall. This is very nice, because you get to mix with the players, and wittness in full the vast amount of people there!

You can check your fixtures for the following day on the internet using your number, or on the wall in the referees' hall. In the morning, you collect your match cards to note down goals etc, and this confirms your fixtures. These cards are taken away from you by a small child on a bike straight after the match, so its always a good idea to have sweets for them :P.

Some games are on the main site, others around Oslo, so its important to note weather you need to catch the referees' shuttle bus.

As far as transport goes, you can have all public transport in Oslo free with your Norway cup band, that also enables you to have your site meals.

The quality of football is great, honestly, more or less every team is of very high quality footballers. Most games are 11 v 11, and tend to last around the 30mins, there are also 7 v 7 matches. All the facilities you could possibly need are there for you, specificaly for referees'. The referee department are very helpfull. Its a make your own way to Oslo kind of thing, but most people pre-arrange flights so that they are not on their own.

More info can be found on their website.http://www.norwaycup.no/ or by asking Dommer OFK.
 
Dommer will be able to give you much more detailed information, but I can certainly try and help.

Basically, you arrive into Oslo and catch a bus into one of the suburbs. When you get there you will see around 30+ pitches along both sides of the road, with Umbro and Norway cup adverts accross the place.

The referees' stay at a school, wich is a building designated wholy to the referees' and referees' department. We stay in a classroom, wich you can fit around 15 into, ond beds, that have been provided (you need a sleeping bag though). Although its not 5 star hotel, its ideal if you are a newcomer, and came on your own knowing nobody, as you know you are in the safe hands of other referees' and sleeping in these classrooms helps you make news friends, settle in and generally have a good time.

If mixing with new people is not what you are after and you wanted to stay as a group, then thats fine too. Correct me if I'm wrong Rocky but I think thats what the Wolverhampton RA do?

As far as arrangements go, you have brekfast and lucnh in the referees' school, and dinner is at a massive sports hall. This is very nice, because you get to mix with the players, and wittness in full the vast amount of people there!

You can check your fixtures for the following day on the internet using your number, or on the wall in the referees' hall. In the morning, you collect your match cards to note down goals etc, and this confirms your fixtures. These cards are taken away from you by a small child on a bike straight after the match, so its always a good idea to have sweets for them :p.

Some games are on the main site, others around Oslo, so its important to note weather you need to catch the referees' shuttle bus.

As far as transport goes, you can have all public transport in Oslo free with your Norway cup band, that also enables you to have your site meals.

The quality of football is great, honestly, more or less every team is of very high quality footballers. Most games are 11 v 11, and tend to last around the 30mins, there are also 7 v 7 matches. All the facilities you could possibly need are there for you, specificaly for referees'. The referee department are very helpfull. Its a make your own way to Oslo kind of thing, but most people pre-arrange flights so that they are not on their own.

More info can be found on their website.http://www.norwaycup.no/ or by asking Dommer OFK.

Thanks Lewys - I shall start looking more into the idea of our county academy possibly getting involved and chat with our RDO and in the meantime take a look at the website.
 
The only problem we have is that we are usually strictly limited to 50 spaces - and last year we had 120 applicants.

I'm in dialog with the central office to try to obtain more slots.

And Mr Melinn knows me from another tournament abroad... ;)
 
The only problem we have is that we are usually strictly limited to 50 spaces - and last year we had 120 applicants.

I'm in dialog with the central office to try to obtain more slots.

And Mr Melinn knows me from another tournament abroad... ;)

oh would Tourney abroad would be Easter Open in Holland?

thanks for update. Our interest is still in the preliminary stages and we don't expect competitions to mKE changes to acomodate our interest.
Had a conversation last week with the RDO, we are aware of Dutch, Norge and US cup tournaments and have also looked on 'google' for other tourney's. So you can see we are very open with our thoughts & discussions. Any info is appreciated
 
No problem - will put together a full information pack within the next couple of days - and you are correct - it was the Easter Open.
 
we are looking at prospect of sending refereeing group to tournament for experience and development.

Can you give me some idea of tournament arrangements? e.g. level of comp', playing facility, accomodation, flights etc...

http://www.norwaycup.co.uk/index.ph...ment-history-a-faq&catid=36:history&Itemid=55

Lewys has done a pretty good job summing it up already - here are my additions.

The tournament needs upwards of 350-400 referees to cover all the games - and surprisingly for something that size - we rarely encounter any admin problems.

Standard of teams varies - from the excellent foreign teams that attend (Brazilians, Americans, Canadians, Palestinians etc.) to the small local Norwegian clubs for which is normally their most important competition of the season. Standard of play and discipline is normally very good.

Facilities are pretty good - each venue has one 3G pitch alongside the many natural grass ones - we use a main site of 30-odd pitches which are used for local league games the rest of the season, and 3/4 local football clubs.

Accommodation - 12 or so people in each school classroom with campbeds - we get a dedicated school that 90% of the officials stay in. Adequate for what their purpose is.

Flights - Have the choice of three airports - Gardermoen (the main one which is used by BA / SAS / etc.), and two smaller ones a bit further away in Sandefjord (Torp) and Moss (Rygge). Transport costs from the airport to the school are refunded at end of week.

IIRC Ryanair do flights to both Torp and Rygge from Bristol - however - I would get flights with an airline called Norwegian.no - you get all the benefits of a major airline (larger luggage allowances) for cheap fares.
 
Facilities are pretty good - each venue has one 3G pitch alongside the many natural grass ones - we use a main site of 30-odd pitches which are used for local league games the rest of the season, and 3/4 local football clubs.

To no stretch of the imagination are the artificial parks 3G! The astro at Furuset is the most brutal park I've ever seen! That aside, the facilities are, as said, pretty good - especially for a competition of this size.

As to flights, the big bonus with going Norweigian.no is if you check two bags (each one is something like £8 each way) is that you get a 2x20kg allowance, rather than just splitting the 15kg Ryanair give you over two bags. And, they fly into Gardermoen and not Nearly-Sweden.
 
sounds good, thanks for info and update - I'm away after today for a few days so when I return I'll have another chat with RDO. Thank you
 
Dommer OFK is your man for Norway cup although if I'm not mistaken applications are closed for next years tournament.
 
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