A&H

First ever observation

Final point, referee your normal game, every observer I know can spot someone trying to change because they are there a mile off!

I see this said a lot but I find it hard to believe.

The only difference I made to my refereeing while being observed was to make sure the substitution procedure was followed correctly, ie. go to the half way line, make sure the player goes off before the sub comes on, check the name on the teamsheet. Normally I'd just check the same number of players go off as come on.

How an observer could possibly tell I was doing that differently for their benefit it is beyond my wit to imagine.
 
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I see this said a lot but I find it hard to believe.

The only difference I made to my refereeing while being observed was to make sure the substitution procedure was followed correctly, ie. go to the half way line, make sure the player goes off before the sub comes on, check the name on the teamsheet. Normally I'd just check the same number of players go off as come on.

How an observer could possibly tell I was doing that differently for their benefit it is beyond my wit to imagine.

On general refereeing (not just subs) over the course of 90 minutes if you try to do something that you don't do regularly, then it's pretty obvious...
 
On general refereeing (not just subs) over the course of 90 minutes if you try to do something that you don't do regularly, then it's pretty obvious...
Is it? How?

Let's say I normally just take a shirt number when issuing a caution but when I'm being observed I write down the full name. How could an observer possibly tell this is not what I normally do?
 
Is it? How?

Let's say I normally just take a shirt number when issuing a caution but when I'm being observed I write down the full name. How could an observer possibly tell this is not what I normally do?

During the course of a game, you will make around 200-300 decisions.

Of course things like using a correct caution technique are things you can do right, but in the heat of the moment, trying to do something that you don't usually do will stick out like a sore thumb.

That might be positioning, dealing with players or any number of things.

But it's your perogative to believe that this is an urban myth if you so wish.
 
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Hi everyone!

I’m a level 7 referee with 2 years experience at Open Age level and I have my first observation soon.

Just wondering if anyone has any tips for me please? Doesn’t need to be observation specific and any advice to improve and refine my reffing would be great!

Thanks so much for any advice!
Learn from the advice they give you but I can tell you now from my experiences that assessors in my county dont seem on the same wave length , what one told me I did well the next said it was a weakness . I found them totally inconsistent
 
Learn from the advice they give you but I can tell you now from my experiences that assessors in my county dont seem on the same wave length , what one told me I did well the next said it was a weakness . I found them totally inconsistent

Ive had 4 different observer experiences. 3 observing me and all 3 were fair and had valid development points.

One experience of being on the line whilst the ref was being observed. The observer was unfair, wrong in law and quite bizzare in his post match brief.

In short, most are great but theres a minority that are not. Same with players and refs.
 
Ive had 4 different observer experiences. 3 observing me and all 3 were fair and had valid development points.

One experience of being on the line whilst the ref was being observed. The observer was unfair, wrong in law and quite bizzare in his post match brief.

In short, most are great but theres a minority that are not. Same with players and refs.
Can’t argue with that mate
 
You will always get the odd observer that you end up thinking "what was he watching". I assisted a L3 who I thought I had a great game, the observer thought otherwise and tore him to pieces after the game. Ironically I got my L3 the next season and got the same observer at the same club, and I just could not believe his comments after the game. He killed me, and even with ridiculous comments like he never heard me all game, whereas anyone that knows me is well aware that I am extremely vocal on the pitch (to the extent that players tell me to shut up :) ). Like I'd been with the referee the previous season, my assistants were aghast after he had left, but ultimately there isn't a lot you can do about it. What I would say is we were both first year L3s and there has long been a theory that some observers mark these lowly to keep their average down, knowing that it won't get them demoted, but there is a massive difference between marking them lowly and completely killing their confidence.

Thankfully though these are few and far between (and this one was booted back to county level the following season), the vast majority of observers are very fair and are looking to actually develop the referee rather than looking for faults.
 
You will always get the odd observer that you end up thinking "what was he watching". I assisted a L3 who I thought I had a great game, the observer thought otherwise and tore him to pieces after the game. Ironically I got my L3 the next season and got the same observer at the same club, and I just could not believe his comments after the game. He killed me, and even with ridiculous comments like he never heard me all game, whereas anyone that knows me is well aware that I am extremely vocal on the pitch (to the extent that players tell me to shut up :) ). Like I'd been with the referee the previous season, my assistants were aghast after he had left, but ultimately there isn't a lot you can do about it. What I would say is we were both first year L3s and there has long been a theory that some observers mark these lowly to keep their average down, knowing that it won't get them demoted, but there is a massive difference between marking them lowly and completely killing their confidence.

Thankfully though these are few and far between (and this one was booted back to county level the following season), the vast majority of observers are very fair and are looking to actually develop the referee rather than looking for faults.

certainly agree they're few and far between but there's some out there who seem to revel in giving a ref a low mark. there's a few notorious ones in my area and have experienced some refs come off games 'injured' to avoid them.

not the right way of course (and not something i've done) but after seeing debriefs and marks given by these observers i can't blame them as they avoided potential season enders.
 
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