A&H

1st time been observed

Ben W

New Member
Level 6 Referee
Hi all. I'm getting observed for the 1st time this sunday. Anyone got any tips for me please.
 
The Referee Store
Hi all. I'm getting observed for the 1st time this sunday. Anyone got any tips for me please.

Apply the LOTG and do your normal game. The observer will be scoring you against 3 criteria if you’re 7-6.

1. Application of law
2. Match Control
3. Positioning & movement

I guarantee that if you go out there, enjoy it as I am sure you do every week, apply the LOTG, move freely around the field and try to be in the best position to spot offences you will be just fine.

An observer is there to help you especially at county level. They want you to succeed!!

Good Luck
 
1) Don't overthink it and referee your normal game.
2) Personally I always made sure that I wouldn't be arriving late due to traffic, even if that meant I was there a bit earlier than normal and sat in the car, I always found that being there in good time was less likely to leave me flustered heading into pre match elements.
3) Don't keep trying to spot the observer and work out what they are writing down during the game. Keep your focus on what's happening on the pitch.
4) If you do make a mistake, put it out of your head
5) Ignore the players, especially if they are trying to get in your head about an observer being there
6) Post game read their report through and think about the key points raised both positive and development.
 
1) Don't overthink it and referee your normal game.
2) Personally I always made sure that I wouldn't be arriving late due to traffic, even if that meant I was there a bit earlier than normal and sat in the car, I always found that being there in good time was less likely to leave me flustered heading into pre match elements.
3) Don't keep trying to spot the observer and work out what they are writing down during the game. Keep your focus on what's happening on the pitch.
4) If you do make a mistake, put it out of your head
5) Ignore the players, especially if they are trying to get in your head about an observer being there
6) Post game read their report through and think about the key points raised both positive and development.
Thanks
 
Apply the LOTG and do your normal game. The observer will be scoring you against 3 criteria if you’re 7-6.

1. Application of law
2. Match Control
3. Positioning & movement

I guarantee that if you go out there, enjoy it as I am sure you do every week, apply the LOTG, move freely around the field and try to be in the best position to spot offences you will be just fine.

An observer is there to help you especially at county level. They want you to succeed!!

Good Luck
Thanks
 
Key thing is don't risk losing silly marks. Make sure you check the players before the game and at least try to deal with issues like different coloured under shirts / shorts, sock tape, etc, and as an absolute minimum get all jewellery removed. Likewise make sure the observer sees you checking the pitch and nets.

Make sure you deal with dissent, and by that I don't necessarily mean caution every time someone disagrees with you, but rather be seen to be dealing with it. That could be a quiet word, public word, involving captain, or cautioning, but the key thing is you don't observe it.

And ensure that if there are mandatory cautions you deal with them. I'm assuming you are 7 to 6 so observers shouldn't be too harsh, but if a player belts the ball from one end of the pitch to the other in frustration at a decision and you do nothing, or even worse talk to him, it could count against you. Likewise if there is a blatant act of SPA, you need to be cautioning, and DOGSO is DOGSO no matter what level, what the score is at the time, or when it occurs. Don't do what one referee I observed did when he told me that he didn't send a player off for the most obvious ever act of DOGSO because it was the last minute and his team were losing heavily ..!

Above all though, try not to change too much from your normal game
 
Thanks. Would you let the home team contact (only contact I have) know that the observer is there?
 
Thanks. Would you let the home team contact (only contact I have) know that the observer is there?

Depends, if there is restricted access to the venue then you definitely need to. They will work it out anyway though as they won't usually have a bloke with a notebook or clipboard writing things down at their games ... :)
 
Thanks. Would you let the home team contact (only contact I have) know that the observer is there?

Not unless you have to ie it’s a proper ground with paying spectators.

As rusty says they will know anyway. Be prepared for the inevitable “Oh you’re not going to get a good mark” “The observer isn’t going to like that” “I hope the observer didn’t see that” etc etc. I would hazard a guess that the majority of players at grassroots don’t have a clue and they say very silly things that they think will impact an observation.

At the end of the day the observer is there to help you.
 
At the end of the day the observer is there to help you.

^^^^^ This, this and this ^^^^^^^^^

See your promotion season not as a year to prove yourself, but as a year to improve.

One of the great difficulties as a grass roots referee is getting an objective and unbiaised opinion of your performance, being observed is a rare opportunity to gain useful feedback.

Even if you have a shocker (you won’t) you will be a better referee the next time you take the pitch because you will have received some friendly and constructive advice.

Enjoy the game, and let us know how it went.
 
Thanks. That exactly why I'm going for promotion, too old to get anywhere with it but I enjoy it and want to improve and see where it goes.
 
Don't referee the game for the observer. Referee it to do the best job you can and be the in the best place to get every decision right.

Dissent was mentioned earlier. Make sure the technical area is kept in order too and behave. Not because the observer is there, because you should do that every game.
 
So the game went pretty well today, thanks all for your advice. The observer picked me up on a few improvement areas which I'd say were fair. Should get the report in a couple of days.
 
So the game went pretty well today, thanks all for your advice. The observer picked me up on a few improvement areas which I'd say were fair. Should get the report in a couple of days.

Great to hear 👍

You will continue to get development points throughout your refereeing career. Even in your best games you will have things to work on.
 
Whenever you are being assessed, it is best to referee exactly as you normally would so that you can get valuable feedback on your performance. This feedback can then be implemented going forward.
 
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