The Ref Stop

Cold hands

WalterPinkman

WalterPinkman

Active Member
Level 6 Referee
I was refereeing yesterday and noticed when giving cards and keeping a tally of the score in my book my hands were stone cold and I was taking ages to write names, etc. into my book. Do you have any tips on how to keep your hands warm so your writing doesn't end up looking like a 3-year-olds drawing:). Thanks.;)
 
The Ref Stop
Keep your hands in your pockets all game...

Just kidding. There are thin Nike gloves on A&H which are okay.

Personally, I run around with my whistle lanyard on my right wrist, I spend all game fiddling with the whistles and keeping my fingers flexing and moving. It seems to help me. If they're that bad, get some hand-warmers for your pockets. You snap them before the game and they then radiate heat for a period of time. It means you have to have your hands in your pocket quite often but there's nothing wrong with that during pauses in play if you need to warm your hands up.

Another tactic, take a thermal flask and place it somewhere before the game. At half time, pour yourself a plastic beaker filled with boiling water and just keep hold of it for a bit.

Other than what I've suggested, there's not a great deal more that you can do. Unless you own a Smartwatch with the Refcard app (although I wouldn't rely on that at the moment, I use the watch and write in my notebook as a backup until the app is reliable).
 
Gloves for me. But needs to be the ones designed for doing things....I had a pair of gloves designed for refereeing with some sort of rubbery material on the fingertips so I could still handle whistle/pen with them. These days it's probably easier to find something similar. Fingerless gloves are useless.
 
HRW said:
Really?

Run more!
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I suffer from hypothyroidism. I'm cold the majority of the time and often have trouble writing in my book. I shake constantly (the severity depends on the temperature and my activity at the time) if the temperature is below 10-11 degrees. For some people, it's not a case of run more. :)
 
CapnBloodbeard said:
Gloves for me. But needs to be the ones designed for doing things....I had a pair of gloves designed for refereeing with some sort of rubbery material on the fingertips so I could still handle whistle/pen with them. These days it's probably easier to find something similar. Fingerless gloves are useless.
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and they look really stupid
 
Found a long sleeve insulating garment like Under Armour is enough to keep hands warm. Tuck fingers in for 5 or so minutes and then good for the remainder of the game. Have resorted to gloves on the line occasionally, not least to avoid dropping the flag.
 
Write all the names down before kick off?

Baby oil on exposed skin.

Tiger balm on the inside of the wrist (where your pulse can be found)
 
Brian Hamilton said:
Write all the names down before kick off?

Baby oil on exposed skin.

Tiger balm on the inside of the wrist (where your pulse can be found)
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I would love to write all names down but unfortunatley the league I referee on do not ask teams to supply team sheets
 
Brian Hamilton said:
Find a new league
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Seriously?!?

Sometimes that's not practically possible...

If I wanted to get team sheets for most of the games I officiate, I'd have to travel over 100miles out of the county.

The two junior leagues down here do not require teams to submit team sheets to each other/referee before the game. Senior leagues have to, not junior.
 
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Bought myself a pair of fingerless black thermal gloves, the only comment i get from players is wanting to know where i got them from,how much. and the classic " i didn't think of getting a pair of them".....
 
DB said:
Seriously?!?

Sometimes that's not practically possible...

If I wanted to get team sheets for most of the games I officiate, I'd have to travel over 100miles out of the county.

The two junior leagues down here do not require teams to submit team sheets to each other/referee before the game. Senior leagues have to, not junior.
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I find it odd that county FA's do not require registration and team sheets.
I would be reluctant to do a league without team sheets.
 
HoofItYouDonkey said:
I find it odd that county FA's do not require registration and team sheets.
I would be reluctant to do a league without team sheets.
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Youth League I'm on (One of top 10 biggest youth leagues in country) have strict registration rules and cards, team sheets have to be filled out and cards checked before the match by the teams but no obligation to give sheets to referee.
 
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