A&H

First time out as a mentor

Jack M

Active Member
Level 6 Referee
Hello fine people of RefChat!

I became a refereeing mentor last year and have my first outing on Sunday.

Does anyone have any general advice or tips for me ahead of Sunday?

Couple of things that I do want to check are;
1. Where do I stand during the game?
2. Is it best practice to contact the ref before the game (i.e. tomorrow) and if so, what should I cover when doing so?
 
The Referee Store
I'd suggest

1) You stand wherever will give you the best view of the referee's actions. Generally this will be near half way but if the game is one sided you might want to favour that half!

2) There's pros and cons. Sometimes a 'mystery shop' can be useful to see an official's natural style. However, generally, if you contact beforehand then finding out the development areas that are already on his / her mind is a useful start point

Enjoy ... it's a hugely valuable thing to do for both parties!
 
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Being a new mentor you are likely to mentor newer referees. Don't make your feedback complicated. Make sure you cover the basics and if that is a few/several areas then don't do any advanced and complicated stuff. Always start with positives and make sure you have at least one positive for every area of improvement.

For match incidents, let them talk you through their thought process. Then ask if they think they could have changed anything if the had a second chance. Then give your opinion and other options they can think about.

How you deliver advice is just as important as its content. Your delivery should make it clear your primary aim is to help them become a better referee. You find some referees may not be as receptive as some others when you talk to them but you don't know the long term impact so do the best you can.

You will learn from this a great deal as well in terms of improving as a referee.

Good luck.
 
I would vary your position. Start around halfway, move around, and get different views of the referee

Yes, it is good practise to make contact with the referee. There might be a change of kick off time or venue, and if they don't know you're coming they Don't know to tell you about any changes.

Also, it might be nice for them to know a friendly face will be there.
 
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Definately a good idea to tell them in advance, if only to avoid a shock after the match where they would be unlikely to have an open conversation. Key is of course that they have to want to improve otherwise it's a wasted exercise.

I have found that it is a good exercise to send the referee a document before the match where they can self-evaluate themselves. You can them evaluate them based on that match.

If on positioning for example, they gave themselves 7 out of 10 and you did too, a conversation about why neither of you gave a 6 or a 5, so focusing on the good things, then a conversation on how to get to 8 or a 9.

I've got a good spreadsheet I'll post on here if I can find it, has worked really well when I did some mentoring and all refs that were mentored improved as a result.
 
I've added it to the resource section, hope it helps self-evaluation form
This is good.
Not ideal for mentoring though. Mentoring is typically for new referees or inexperienced refs needing a bit of support.
There is too much here for a new ref. Just a couple of strengths and developments should suffice. We're not building Rome, but laying a couple of flagstones to stand them in good stead going forwards.
I note the doc states specifically for level 4, but typically at that level it's coaching not mentoring
 
fair points, worked when I used it though with a combination of new, young and experienced referees. Happy to take it off if inappropriate for mentoring
 
fair points, worked when I used it though with a combination of new, young and experienced referees. Happy to take it off if inappropriate for mentoring
Recommendation for mentoring a newly qualified referee is to find one point for the referee to improve (and explain how to do so) plus 3 points which can be praised by the mentor. Keep it simple👍
 
Recommendation for mentoring a newly qualified referee is to find one point for the referee to improve (and explain how to do so) plus 3 points which can be praised by the mentor. Keep it simple👍
Course it depends on who is being mentored. Youth Refs, I'd be inclined to focus on body language & confidence etc.
I've mentored some newbie, yet promising (adult) L7's and they were hungry for quite a bit more feedback
 
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