The Ref Stop

Which course

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BMcE11

New Member
Hello,

I'm looking to book my son onto a refereeing course. We're in London and there are courses run by the London FA and also the Amateur FA. The London FA course is £140 and runs over 15.5 hrs over 3 dates (sept to Jan). The Amateur FA course is £135 and runs over 2 dates totalling 9 hours but the course dates take place in one week (this month) so getting the required matches out of the way sooner. Does anyone know what the difference is between the two courses or which one is better? He's 17 if that makes a difference and likely to be going to university next year to study sports management so looking to make this a regular thing now he's given up playing.
 
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My course was over two days, the first day was theory in the classroom and the second was more on the pitch and practical. I did feel slightly under prepared for my first game and majority has been learning on the job so I may lean towards recommending the longer course. Can't really help you on the differences and I'm guessing not many can as we all will have done either one or the other. For the sake of a fiver I would suggest the longer one so hopefully he's well prepared for his first game. Good luck.
 
JoetheRef said:
Then I'm not sure how they've managed to make it 6 1/2 hours longer.
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My CFA did the same by adding a 3rd day for a sort of recap/technical development session for questions/support etc. The expectation was that at least some of the 5 games got done between day 2 & 3.
 
Some CFA's add a "Next Steps" session to which parents of young learners are invited.
The curriculum is national but with some freedom for CFA's to adjust for local needs, e. g. more about Mini Soccer where that is prominent.
 
JoetheRef said:
My course was over two days, the first day was theory in the classroom and the second was more on the pitch and practical. I did feel slightly under prepared for my first game and majority has been learning on the job so I may lean towards recommending the longer course. Can't really help you on the differences and I'm guessing not many can as we all will have done either one or the other. For the sake of a fiver I would suggest the longer one so hopefully he's well prepared for his first game. Good luck.
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I don't think there is anything you can do on a course to prepare you for your first game to be fair. You'll always have that slightly under prepared feeling, especially if you're a youngster
 
Thanks so much for your replies. My query really was about whether the course offered by the amateur FA would be the equivalent of the London FA and that they'd lead to my son being able to referee the same type of matches. Sounds like they are the same. I just wouldn't want to spend all that money to find out I'd booked the wrong course.
 
2touch said:
I did my course with the AFA in March this year and was able to referee matches straight after the conclusion of the course. Course was enjoyable, you can book with confidence.
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Thank you. He's finished the course last weekend with the AFA but no follow up on what happens next or how to find a league/matches.
 
BMcE11 said:
Thank you. He's finished the course last weekend with the AFA but no follow up on what happens next or how to find a league/matches.
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Don't hold your breath, theres mixed experiences from those on this forum about "what happens" after the course, unfortunately for many you are left to your own devices and have to find 5 games to qualify.

Your best bet is to get the ref secretary contacts for the leagues near you and say your looking to complete the 5 qualifying games, they should be able to sort you a few matches out.
 
Someone from the Southern Amateur League turned up to our course to introduce himself and the RDO was happy to introduce any of us to him by email afterwards and it’s been easy getting games with them ever since. I would suggest emailing the AFA or perhaps even the Southern Amateur League yourself via their website. Games are 2pm on Saturdays and games are adults.

I went straight into open age refereeing as thought I might as well throw myself straight in at the deep end. So far so good but none of the games have been ‘easy’ to ref so far! Enjoying it though.
 
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