Two weeks ago I enjoyed a wonderful holiday and I even got the chance of refereeing in Scotland. The semi-final of the Brambles Cup on Islay was my international debut. A great experience! Only one week before the holiday I tweeted that I was going to Scotland and that fast-forwarded everything toward my first match […]
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I was offered games in the Youth Premier League for the end of the week. This time in the U18 Boys division and it was for a triple-header! I was immediately wary. I knew I couldn’t handle three games in the middle in this weather. I knew that I would be able to manage to […]
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So as detailed on the About Me… page – I have been retraining to become a Football Official (for the sake of clarity – “American Football” will be referred from hereon in as “Football”. Association Football will be known as “Soccer”).
The whole process was extremely easy compared to what I experienced back in 1995 when I went through an intensive 8-10 weeks of classroom sessions to qualify as a soccer referee (under the tutelage of the legend that was Gerald Ashby).[..]
http://donningthestripes.wordpress.com/2015/04/16/preamble-to-the-main-event/
I started early in the week playing some football. Doesn’t happen often but I like to think of it as part of my training. I joined a pick-up game and felt I had a great game. I came as a substitute to cover any playing time for the regulars that showed up. Ever since I […]
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The Women’s World Cup appointments are made by Fifa and I got the chance to speak to one of the selected officials: Lucie Ratajova. The female referee from the Czech Republic can’t describe her feelings. “And I did not expect the appointment.” Congratulations with your appointment for the 2015 World Cup. How does that feel? […]
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I met with the Youth Premier League assignor earlier in the week for the previous month’s payment. We had a chat about the league, how it had come together, who was running it and other details. Refereeing without a league’s context can leave one stranded or without confidence on the field when it comes to […]
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I think it’s important to be able to understand the mindset of an assignor to understand how referee appointments work which is useful knowledge for any referee. To start I will refer you to factors in international referee selection beautifully outlined by Jenna from Play the Advantage. http://playtheadvantage.com/2014/01/28/how-referees-are-selected/ http://playtheadvantage.com/2014/02/15/how-uefa-chooses-referees-for-champions-league/ For a direct plunge, here are […]
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Referees of the Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada are appointed by Fifa. I’ve added all the names per continent in the overview below. AFC referees Rita Gani (Malaysia) Abirami Abpai Naidu (Singapore) Liang Qin (China) Hyang Ok Ri (Korea DPR) Sachiko Yamagishi (Japan) CAF referees Gladys Lengwe (Zambia) Theresa Raissa Neguel Damgoua (Cameroon) Ledya […]
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Ever had to ask yourself the question: am I fit enough to referee a sports game? This week that question buzzed in my head. I was not sick enough to stay in bed the whole day. I could even work with a few painkillers. Yes, lots of sneezing and coughing. It all started last Saturday […]
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There is always a way to become better as a referee. One of the things is reading interviews from other referees and see things you could use yourself. That’s why I started to reach out to referees from all over the world who have a goal to reach the top. The same applies for Antonio […]
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When a referee arrives at a club he get welcomed. Every club has organised that differently. Sometimes an 10-year-old kid who gives me a cup of tea, sometimes it’s a former referee who had to stop due to an injury. That got me thinking how professional clubs would do that. This is how referee liaison […]
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Michael van Praag has released his released his plans for the future of football. The candidate Fifa president has also announced his ideas on the future of refereeing. One of the things he aims for is an international referee academy. You can find all his refereeing plans in this blog post. International referee academy “Referees […]
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I usually don’t get nice mail in my mailbox. It’s just bills, taxes or printed ads. This week was different. I opened the mailbox and there was an envelope with the text “By air mail”. I opened and and saw that I got a Premier League badge from Howard Webb. Fantastic! Premier League badge from […]
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Former Fifa referee Ian Stokes prepares young referees for the challenges they will have to face at higher levels. He’s the Lead Tutor for the FAI School of Excellence. “Our aim is to assist these referees to achieve their maximum potential.” Ian Stokes, please introduce yourself. I grew up in Inchicore, Dublin which is close […]
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I touched lightly upon this in my year-end reflections post for 2014 but I didn’t let on to all the insight I really had. Observation has been a major source of learning for me on the refereeing journey. As you get the opportunity to assist referees further along the journey and hierarchy than you, you […]
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Bumped into this wonderful video: “Thiago Impressed by Linesman’s Skills”. It reminded me of one of my games. I blew the whistle for half-time and the ball rolled to the sideline. A player walked there and kicked the ball towards me. I did not catch the ball with my hand, but controlled it with my […]
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Referee Pieter Vink had to make two different calls this weekend. “Both I and my assistant had not seen that the ball was over the line”, he admitted. “And if there is doubt, I can’t allow the goal when then. I can’t explain then to players why I allowed the goal.” But he still signaled […]
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Since there was a cancellation the weekend before, I wasn’t active for a week. Hard not to be excited for my match appointment on Wednesday. Meanwhile my referee tan has returned. Tan lines on the arm and knees. I was stocked up to be hydrated for match day. U12 Boys Cup semi-final One of the […]
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It’s International Women’s Day 2015 on the 8th of March. A good moment for me to give the female referees which I interviewed some extra attention on the blog. And of course I’ll try to interview more female referees in 2015. Below I’ve added a few quotes from the referees I’ve already interviewed with a […]
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The Graham Norton Show had a wonderful episode about refereeing. I did not expect it, but have you ever thought of David Beckham as football referee? What he told was a nice story of how difficult it could be to referee a match of one of your kids. “I ref’d one of the games of […]
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