A&H

Fitness advice

Chrisb

New Member
Level 7 Referee
So, I've been accepted onto Manchester Fa's Referee course starting in August. Prior to Covid-19, I did alot of running but since Covid I've just not had the drive to run.

What fitness levels would I need at the start of my referee career? I want to push as far as I can with it. I'm joining the gym again this week and have a plan to go by already.

Also, anyone else struggling to find kit? Kit Locker, A&H, newitts all seem to be sold out of most kit 😐

Any help/advice is very much welcomed.

Cheers

Chris
 
The Referee Store
On the fitness front, go out and run continuously for 12 minutes and see how far you can go in that time.

That will give you a really simple view of what your baseline is.

In general if you want to be able to act as an assistant referee in a team of 3 on a supply league game (so decent standard) you'll need to be able to cover at least 2k in 12 minutes on a running track - YMMV depending on which county you are with. At level 4 - where you would be in the middle for that same supply league game, you need to cover 2.6k in 12 minutes.

Do the run, see how far you get and then that will give you an indicator of where you are.

Obviously this is for Open Age football. If you are starting in kids football, the pace is a bit slower, so you don't necessarily need to be as fit, however if you have aspirations to referee adult games and progress as a referee, the the above is a decent benchmark.
 
Thank you, when I ran alot, I could do 5k in 25 mins and it was generally alot of hill climbs. 2k in 12 mins should be a doddle I hope
 
So, I've been accepted onto Manchester Fa's Referee course starting in August. Prior to Covid-19, I did alot of running but since Covid I've just not had the drive to run.

What fitness levels would I need at the start of my referee career? I want to push as far as I can with it. I'm joining the gym again this week and have a plan to go by already.

Also, anyone else struggling to find kit? Kit Locker, A&H, newitts all seem to be sold out of most kit 😐

Any help/advice is very much welcomed.

Cheers

Chris
The Referees Association (see their website) have a "New Referee" starter pack with nearly all you need.
Enjoy the course, and your refereeing.
 
Thank you, when I ran alot, I could do 5k in 25 mins and it was generally alot of hill climbs. 2k in 12 mins should be a doddle I hope
if you can run 5k in 25 minutes, you should be more than fit enough for the start of your refereeing journey.

That should help you keep up with play to make it easier for you to make credible decisions.
 
As well as going out doing steady running, some interval work will help a lot for matches - a nice simple one is to find a parks pitch, and do laps of it, sprinting the touchlines and walking the goal lines. Another good one is to do sets of box-to-box sprints, resting for the same amount of time the run took.
 
Good luck with the course and your future "in the middle", I've just been taken on as a mentor for Manchester so our paths may cross. I'll keep my eyes on the appointments once the course is completed.
 
Good luck with the course and your future "in the middle", I've just been taken on as a mentor for Manchester so our paths may cross. I'll keep my eyes on the appointments once the course is completed.
Good to meet you today Kevin. Hope your mentoring goes well.
 
Thanks, it was nice to meet you also. Good to look at how the training goes now, compared to my course many, many years ago. All the best and send those games in to the RDO .
 
Thanks, it was nice to meet you also. Good to look at how the training goes now, compared to my course many, many years ago. All the best and send those games in to the RDO .
I wondered what it would of been like years ago. Can't wait to get going! Sore knees from diving on the 3g though 🤣
 
The fitness advice listed above is good. I'd also try to get some strength training as well. Focus more on muscular endurance, so probably higher reps with slightly less weight. You don't want to back squat a dump truck (to use my physical therapist's line), but having good strength and muscle endurance will help. When you look at the top refs, you'll see that few of them are really skinny. Several of them have some good muscle definition.

Agreed on the interval runs. I'd add our fitness test that we use in the US. 17 seconds of a hard run, 20 seconds rest, and repeat anywhere from 20-40 times. Our USSF regional referee test is 40 reps of the 17s-20s interval, where the officials have to run 75m in 17s and walk 25m in 20s for 40 times.
 
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