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Making the step into refereeing

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mike_newref

New Member
Hi all,

I have had a long-standing interest in becoming a referee since playing starting becoming hard work. I have done some officiating in the past as a Cricket Umpire so I have a basic understanding from that in terms of officiating.

One of the reasons I haven't taken the plunge before now was due to a lot of stories I read on social media about referee abuse and referees generally being treated badly and I am not perhaps as thick-skinned as I need to be. What advice or encouragement would you give me to overcome this "doubt"?

Thanks
Mike
 
The Referee Store
Take the course and get to know other people who are starting out as a referee.

When you're refereeing games be consistent be fair and enjoy it :)
 
Social media shows the worst and that'll be a fraction of the games. Go and watch a few games at the level you might officiate and see the reality.
Your first few games will probably be the hardest so speak to your County FA and Appointments Secretary- see if they can ease you in gently to Clubs that have good reputations.

I had a low level heckler last week and it does affect me. What I did was speak to other experienced referees. It allowed me to get it off my chest and put things into context. Whatever may come along don't keep it to yourself and let others know
 
What advice would you give to a first-time referee who is trying not to let the teams know it's his first time? I fear that if I am hesitant or indecisive due to inexperience that the players will jump all over that in an attempt to influence me.

Take my time over decisions, deep breath before addressing players after I've blown up? I've seen some posts on here that referees blow for everything in order to fain control of assert authority, any suggestions?
 
mike_newref said:
What advice would you give to a first-time referee who is trying not to let the teams know it's his first time? I fear that if I am hesitant or indecisive due to inexperience that the players will jump all over that in an attempt to influence me.

Take my time over decisions, deep breath before addressing players after I've blown up? I've seen some posts on here that referees blow for everything in order to fain control of assert authority, any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Be confident, don't feel you have to blow for a foul immediately, think about any advantage in play.

If you have to deal with players in a stoppage (for a caution for example) tell all other players to move away and give yourself space to deal with the offending player.

You will get much more confidence with games, it just takes time. That's what I got out of my first season.
 
mike_newref said:
Hi all,

I have had a long-standing interest in becoming a referee since playing starting becoming hard work. I have done some officiating in the past as a Cricket Umpire so I have a basic understanding from that in terms of officiating.

One of the reasons I haven't taken the plunge before now was due to a lot of stories I read on social media about referee abuse and referees generally being treated badly and I am not perhaps as thick-skinned as I need to be. What advice or encouragement would you give me to overcome this "doubt"?

Thanks
Mike
Click to expand...
Dont do it Mike, There is still time!!! :)
 
Be confident and smile.

Body language can a very long way to getting you through any tough times.

Physical abuse is a very very rare occurrence, you might referee 300 games and not see one single incident, dont let that put you off.

Keep an on here, its a brilliant tool and read the good book on a regular basis.
 
Strong whistle. Strong signals and when you are wrong be wrong with confidence and think about the game after the game not during.
 
Be yourself. Take the course and try it.

It is very difficult at times - it can be hard physically, mentally, emotionally.

Go into every game switched on. Learn what you need to be able to concentrate for the whole game. Match control and extreme incidents are often connected to moments that seemed benign at the time. The more experience you have of handling difficult players and scenarios and the more ”tools” you have will all help you be confident and control matches.

If you are very wary of OA then ask to start with youth games. And my top tip: ask to run the line. It’s the best way to learn from other refs and experience the intensity if matches that are above your refereeing level;)

Give it a go! Enjoy. Expect the unexpected.
 
Few things to remember. You will never avoid conflict as a referee. You are making binary decisions, some of those are easy (striker smashes the ball wife of goal), however in a game you will make many that are not as clear cut. This will often lead to players not being happy because a decision has gone against them. It's important to remember to "control the controllables". You can control your decisions by knowing the laws of the game and by getting into the optimal position to give them, you cannot control the reaction of the players to those decisions, however you can control your response to those reactions.

My advice - study the LOTG especially around Law 12, being able specifically to determine the difference between Careless, Reckless and Excessive is probably THE most important thing to be able to do.

You'll get positioning wrong to start with, but that will come in time.

You can help to shortcut the above two things by watching as much football as possible, both on TV and live (try heading to a local supply league game for example) and just watch the referee. When the ref gives a decision, if you see a foul, then try and apply the law - reckless tackle, yellow card for example.
Ultimately you'll come across players and teams that don't react well to being refereed properly, fairly early in my career I came off an observation game, got few handshakes from the players, and most of the comments from the team's we're "better luck next week" or "not your finest game" but when I spoke to the observer he commended me on an Excellent game and gave me an above standard mark!
 
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