The Ref Stop

Going for promotion- anytips

JamieSafc1

JamieSafc1

New Member
Level 7 Referee
Hi,
This season I want to challenge for promotion. Has anyone got any tips on what i could do to handle games better or just be a general referee so I don't get picked up by assessors in different game situations.
 
The Ref Stop
Control the controllables when being observed.
  • Make sure you do a pitch inspection
  • check players equipment
  • Have good signals
  • Have good positioning
  • manage subs (go to the touchline, check equipment etc)
  • if you have CARs call them in with the captains and give instructions there
  • Have good communication with assistants
  • Give all cautions according to the LotG (if you're not being observed you may not Caution for failing to respect the distance if you are being observed then you should)
  • have a good Caution technique (isolate, explain, name, caution)
  • Have good admin, closing dates etc
If you control what you can then you'll get easy marks. No one knows what's going to happen in a game but control what you can and referee how you normally would you'll be okay.

Listen to the observer at the debrief and make note of what he says you should work on, work on the development points so that if they appear on another observer report they're something you done well instead of Development areas
 
Trueman1991 said:
if you have CARs call them in with the captains and give instructions there
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And if they change (which happens often as they're normally substitutes) remember to brief the new CAR on what you expect from them, no matter how many times they change the person.
 
Pitch Inspection, sock tape, undergarments, jewellery, studs (no idea what you're looking for, but do it anyway and then do it again), subs wearing bibs, brief CARs together, acknowledge & interact with CARs throughout, brief new CARs as and when, subs at half way (you must go over every time), check subs kit (boots again), player off FOP before sub on, even check returning subs boots again, then check them again to be on the safe side. Positive whistle and signal clearly for everything. Be sure to call the captains in at some point even if it's just to check their boots again (preferably to be seen to use a stepped approach) and Sin Bin for dissent. Vary positions at CKs and get side on to the play as much as poss
It's a box ticking exercise. Just tick the boxes. That's the blueprint. Barring disasters (like blatant wrong Application of Law or ignoring dissent), I don't think the actual game counts for much. Most 'refereeing' competencies are for later promotions
 
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Trueman1991 said:
if you're not being observed you may not Caution for failing to respect the distance if you are being observed then you should
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despite the rest of the post being very solid advice, I really don't like this. All it does is feed the LWR problem. But I blame inconsistent observing/assessing, poor advise (IMO) and sacrificing too much of application of law for game management at top flight refereeing for it.

At a very minimum, if you stop play because of failing to respect distance, you MUST caution every time, even if not being observed.
 
In the past we have talked researching teams, players, comp etc. Here is something I don't remember reading on this forum before.

If you are told who is observing research the observer. If you have colleagues who are willing to share their past reports, read them in detail otherwise ask what they were picked up on. Every observer has their own style (like players and teams) and things they are particular about. For example, some pick up on small things while others others will tell you it's pedantic to pay attention to small things. An example from an observer where I am, if you play advantage, you must vocalise it very clearly.
 
Easy one;

Don't be that type of person that gets uppity when they get a bit of criticism from an assessor or in the assessment report. Also, don't be that referee that just looks at the mark but doesn't give a hoot about the actual feedback within. :rolleyes:

You want to break the assessment reports down so you can improve. Identify the negatives and figure out the solutions to that. The common ones early on are to do with positioning, fitness, failure to identify fouls, failure to issue cautions. Identify if it was a one-off incident, or if it is a pattern. Identify if the problems can be linked to other areas that you have issues with - for example, were you pulled up for a failure to caution someone? Why? Because your positioning was naff? Then solve the positioning and you'll solve the caution issue.


Beyond that, also pay attention to the positives in your assessments. Identify these, and make sure you keep doing them, even if players/managers/other referees tell you not to. For example; In the majority of my assessments I have been given praise for identifying caution-able offences, issuing the cautions and being consistent with the cautions. Players/managers/other refs think I'm far too harsh, I, for whatever reason this season, listened to some of them recently and in my last assessment I got pulled up for not cautioning appropriately.


In short, listen to your assessors, even in the face of everyone else whining about it, if an assessor says you're great at something, stick to how you do it and pay no heed to anyone else unless it's another assessor. :P


If you can, get in touch with whoever it is in charge of the assessments, they can be great for clarifying in the case that two assessments provide conflicting advice.

Other than that, listen to their debrief, don't be afraid to answer questions honestly - especially if you made a mistake, show that you're willing to listen and willing to change based on their advice. If they have time, don't be afraid to ask them questions to clarify things, or to identify solutions to things that may be bothering you. Maybe you feel you did badly on something in the match, but the assessor didn't bring it up? Ask him, he may say it's not even worth thinking about, he might give you further advice, but it shows a willingness to learn, which is always good.
 
Take Jelly Babies, assessors love Jelly babies,
Tuck your shirt in, don't say swear words to players, they dont tend to like that!!!
Thats 25% sorted if my memory serves!
 
Read the competencies for the promotion level you are doing and focus on getting those right.

I also looked hard at the competencies for the next level as well and tried to incorporate those into my game, which has worked for me to this point.
 
I had my 4th assessment yesterday. It should be a pass, as were the first three
Honestly, I don't think I've learned anything from the whole experience. The positional advice has been very contradictory. It's left me running around like a lunatic (5.9 miles yesterday) trying to tick everyone's boxes. Some of the observations have been factually incorrect, like when (and when not) to use the whistle for restarts and if and when the correct signalling was used. These are things that I'm 100% on, primarily because of my forum membership. I've also found that every observer has dwelt on the negatives, with only one observer giving any positive feedback. All four games have gone as well as I could possibly have hoped for (no KMI mistakes, good foul recognition, communication and AOL), yet I've left every game feeling down in the mouth despite receiving the inevitable pass mark a few days later. Several summary comments have stated that I need a sterner test, but it's not my fault that my games are mostly uneventful for whatever reason
 
Big Cat said:
I had my 4th assessment yesterday. It should be a pass, as were the first three
Honestly, I don't think I've learned anything from the whole experience. The positional advice has been very contradictory. It's left me running around like a lunatic (5.9 miles yesterday) trying to tick everyone's boxes. Some of the observations have been factually incorrect, like when (and when not) to use the whistle for restarts and if and when the correct signalling was used. These are things that I'm 100% on, primarily because of my forum membership. I've also found that every observer has dwelt on the negatives, with only one observer giving any positive feedback. All four games have gone as well as I could possibly have hoped for (no KMI mistakes, good foul recognition, communication and AOL), yet I've left every game feeling down in the mouth despite receiving the inevitable pass mark a few days later. Several summary comments have stated that I need a sterner test, but it's not my fault that my games are mostly uneventful for whatever reason
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what level are you doing?
 
Big Cat said:
7-6
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Don’t feel downhearted. At 7-6 you are only just starting out and the same is often true of the people who are observing you, they are at the start of their observation careers usually.

There's only a small number of competencies in this group, so don't worry about them. It is worth seeing if there are any common threads that are present in all observations.

Even as you go up the levels there are things that are pet likes of certain observers, and some of those are pet hates of others!
 
Justylove said:
Don’t feel downhearted. At 7-6 you are only just starting out and the same is often true of the people who are observing you, they are at the start of their observation careers usually.

There's only a small number of competencies in this group, so don't worry about them. It is worth seeing if there are any common threads that are present in all observations.

Even as you go up the levels there are things that are pet likes of certain observers, and some of those are pet hates of others!
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Agreed. I think it's a case of getting to know the observers, so one can referee according to whose wearing the CFA coat. It looks as though I've successfully navigated this first booby trapped hurdle, so onward & upwards! I should imagine it's common for referees of all levels to get bewildered by occasional assessments, so I know I'm not alone
 
Big Cat said:
Agreed. I think it's a case of getting to know the observers, so one can referee according to whose wearing the CFA coat. It looks as though I've successfully navigated this first booby trapped hurdle, so onward & upwards! I should imagine it's common for referees of all levels to get bewildered by occasional assessments, so I know I'm not alone
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As you go up the levels the experience of the observer's also increases. I got more productive feedback at 6-5 than I did at 7-6, and have had more again at 5-4.

Best feedback I got was this past weekend as my CORE coach came to watch who is a Contrib League observer, his feedback was again at a different level to that which I’d had before.
 
Big Cat said:
I had my 4th assessment yesterday. It should be a pass, as were the first three
Honestly, I don't think I've learned anything from the whole experience. The positional advice has been very contradictory. It's left me running around like a lunatic (5.9 miles yesterday) trying to tick everyone's boxes. Some of the observations have been factually incorrect, like when (and when not) to use the whistle for restarts and if and when the correct signalling was used. These are things that I'm 100% on, primarily because of my forum membership. I've also found that every observer has dwelt on the negatives, with only one observer giving any positive feedback. All four games have gone as well as I could possibly have hoped for (no KMI mistakes, good foul recognition, communication and AOL), yet I've left every game feeling down in the mouth despite receiving the inevitable pass mark a few days later. Several summary comments have stated that I need a sterner test, but it's not my fault that my games are mostly uneventful for whatever reason
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Have you thought it is your reffing which means your games are uneventful? I say this as a compliment
 
Tino Best said:
Have you thought it is your reffing which means your games are uneventful? I say this as a compliment
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It might be, impossible to say. I'm inclined to think this is true only in part
I've done well on MC and AOL, but positional development points have left me running in circles (not @Mintyref circles, just headless chicken stuff)
Have you had any more assessments yet? I'm hoping I'm done for the campaign
 
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