Junior football and available courses

Unfortunately my 17 yo is unable to get on a course until early 2025 yet the junior league he plays in is struggling for refs and lots of games are reffed by coaches and parents. This is especially apparent for the u13s mixed and girls teams

My son has passed all of the online courses and is DBS checked, if acceptable to the coach, club and parents is he able to ref matches?

Yes. Probably more qualified than the others you listed if he's done the online course!

Might have a problem with the DBS... don't know what association he qualified with but the SFA want you to do a Child Wellbeing course and their own background checks before they will let you do a game that is sanctioned by them.

RonnieM said:

Might have a problem with the DBS... don't know what association he qualified with but the SFA want you to do a Child Wellbeing course and their own background checks before they will let you do a game that is sanctioned by them.

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SCORY (Standard Code of Rules for Youth Football) in England
says the following:

"(B)In cases where there are no officially appointed Match Officials in attendance, the Clubs shall agree upon a referee. An individual thus agreed upon shall, for that Competition Match, have the full powers, status and authority of a registered referee. Individuals under the age of 16 must not participate either as a referee or assistant referee in any open age competition and individuals under the age of 14 must not participate either as a referee or assistant referee in any Competition Match. Referees between the ages of 14 and 16 are only eligible to officiate in competitions where the Players’ age band is at least one year younger than the age of the referee, for example a 15 year old referee may only officiate in competitions where the age banding is 14 or younger."

So in terms of OP, where there are no officially appointed referees then your son can be the person agreed upon to referee the match.

Thanks all for the responses. He’s completed the FAs safeguarding course, and DBS has been signed off. He’s just waiting for the 121 training. It’s stupid that the courses aren’t more frequent.

Good to know that he can ref, what about payment I guess that’s up to the club

The payment side will most likely be a bit iffy due to him not being qualified. You would hope that most clubs would have a bit of common sense and be happy to pay someone maybe not the full fee but a reduced amount to prevent any potential bias that you would normally get from a parent.

Also the reason the course is not run as often as maybe it used to is due to lack of interest. Even with the lack of referees at grassroots no one ever wants to pick up the whistle themselves nowadays.

Samuel said:

Also the reason the course is not run as often as maybe it used to is due to lack of interest.

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While I believe this may hold true for certain counties, in Hertfordshire (and potentially others), the issue seems to stem not only from the availability of trainers but also from the overwhelming number of 13 to 16-year-olds on the courses. I’m unsure if they receive free or subsidised places, but I had to try four times to secure a spot, ultimately succeeding only because I registered within five minutes of the course availability email—ten minutes later, it was sold out! The trainers noted that the ratio of adults to kids typically skews heavily towards the latter, often comprising 85 to 95% of participants.

I’ve previously estimated on this forum that I wouldn't be surprised if around 90% of young referees may not continue on the journey. Whether they are pursuing it for their Duke of Edinburgh award or for the £25 per weekend incentive, it would be intriguing to track how many continue in the role. There is a significant challenge with referee retention, and it would be interesting to see the retention rates of newly qualified referees those who complete the required five games, those who register for the following season, and those who officiate more than ten games. I'm not saying that adults are immune from dropping out, but I imagine the upfront financial commitment could suggest a lower dropout rate.

I want to clarify that I don’t view the presence of 13 to 16-year-olds in these courses negatively; they possess far greater potential to advance on the refereeing ladder than I do as a 35+ year old.

In contrast, I found the Sussex waiting list to have considerably more course availability and places.

The Ginger Ref said:

In contrast, I found the Sussex waiting list to have considerably more course availability and places.

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In Suffolk I believe it is a very similar situation, however I am happy to be proven wrong.

My brother has decided to take up refereeing as well now (watch out anyone else in the area) and is in the boat of he can’t get a job along side college and playing every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. While I disagree with his reasoning it makes me think this might be similar to the other 16 year olds taking up the whistle.