Now that you have refereed a few, what have you found challenging? Happy to give you tips on those.I have refereed a few academy games and was wondering if any other referees had any tips on refereeing them ?
I have refereed a few academy games and was wondering if any other referees had any tips on refereeing them ?
Don't sweat the small stuff. IE the expectation at academy level is to let them play. So don't be over precise on where a throw in should be taken or a free kick 30 yards in their own half etc. That would be the biggest issue I've seen with young refs when they start doing academy games (I did quite alot at one particular club over the last 2 years). Apart from that I didn't find them any different at u15 level and below. 16s/18s had NAR's so obviously there's plenty of differences there.
Coaches are putting the players at a disadvantage imoI did quite a few U16/U18s lines and as you say, the coaches especially, don't want to see the referee. The good ones will actually actively discourage any dissent or 'afters' in the games as well, as these are meant to be about developing the players rather than the actual result, or perhaps more accurately (In any match the aim is to win), getting promoted or relegated.
Which is why so many U23s at Championship clubs end up going out on loan to League 1 and below.Coaches are putting the players at a disadvantage imo
Without afters and verbals, players will generally fade into the background. The best players are invariably difficult to referee
Which is why so many U23s at Championship clubs end up going out on loan to League 1 and below.
At those levels, win bonuses mean something to the players and the games, whilst maybe not as 'technically' good as U23s games, do provide a real football education and a completely different experience to the rather 'tame' U 23 matches at the top levels.
Lots of players have said that, U23 games and reserve games are not at all competitive and young players aren't going to develop in them. Ollie Watkins discussed it most recently, he was playing reserve football for Exeter and not improving and then went on loan to Weston Super Mare. Whilst it was lower level football he learnt more from that than he was doing at Exeter and he credits that loan to making him into the player he currently now is.
Most referees will tell you that refereeing U18 and U23 games at the elite level is much easier than refereeing competitive football.
I have to say, I've kind of found the opposite. By the time you get to U18's, these are players who are playing for a pro contract - a good performance here or a bad performance there could be the difference between them getting to have a career as a professional footballer or not. The managers are more professional and well behaved, sure. But the players sometimes can really care, more than in the vast majority of grassroots matches.My experience of pro teams U18 academy games is that it's all very "nice" and there isn't that real grit and determination you get in more competitive games. It's very rare to get something that has a bit of spite and needle in it.
Skill levels are good and they can be a bit quicker than you might normally see, but in general they are quite easy to handle.
I have to say, I've kind of found the opposite. By the time you get to U18's, these are players who are playing for a pro contract - a good performance here or a bad performance there could be the difference between them getting to have a career as a professional footballer or not. The managers are more professional and well behaved, sure. But the players sometimes can really care, more than in the vast majority of grassroots matches.