The Ref Stop

How has your promotion season gone?

I dont mean to sound harsh but i have agree with @Brian Hamilton there should really be no excuse for failing a LOTG exam especially as a potential level 4 referee. This is what we do week in, week out. Its like a maths teacher failing a maths test.

I am pleased to say i was not in the astonishingly high 50% fail group!!!
 
The Ref Stop
Cheshire Ref said:
I dont mean to sound harsh but i have agree with @Brian Hamilton there should really be no excuse for failing a LOTG exam especially as a potential level 4 referee. This is what we do week in, week out. Its like a maths teacher failing a maths test.

I am pleased to say i was not in the astonishingly high 50% fail group!!!
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I had mental block. When I left the room I knew I had got some wrong. Checked up lotg and confirmed the ones I knew were wrong! It can happen. Wierd really as I had next to no prep time for resit as it was the very next morning after finding out I had failed and I passed.

I failed my driving test 3 times. Didnt mean I couldnt drive - just couldnt pass the test. Its the kind of person I am lol.
 
Paul March said:
I think the very high failure rate at seminar sittings might actually help. It would be easier to discard one or two, but 50%+ would be a bit more difficult especially given the L4 shortage.
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Brian Hamilton said:
Hmmm you were surprised how technical it was? The scenarios aren't that unusual, so how do you manage in your games? It explains why the L4s I see still make basic errors in AOL.
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Well, although I wasn't one of the majority that failed, I can concur that the 5 to 4 test was surprisingly hard and the questions were materially more difficult than I was expecting. To put things in context, going from 7 to 6 and 6 to 5, I registered 32 and 33 out of 35 respectively. This year I scraped through with 12 out of 15. And personally, I would place the vast majority of scenarios outlined in the questions in the 'highly infrequent' category rather than things you would expect to see in a typical match. That said, it is of course our responsibility to know all the Laws inside out, so I've been brushing up ever since ....
 
The exams get harder the higher you go. The one we had to do at the new level 3 seminar was astonishingly difficult, and everyone came out shaking their heads thinking they had failed. At that level though it goes beyond LOTG and also covers the standardised competition rules. For example one question was along the lines of "you have an appointment on a contributory league game and then receive an appointment to an FA County Youth Cup on the same day. Which takes priority?" So you need to know way beyond laws of the game.

Also bear in mind that once you get to level 4 and above the FA have a habit of pulling spot exams. So you'll turn up to a mandatory seminar only to find an exam paper sitting on each table ..!
 
The biggest issue I had was that we were told to expect contact within 10 days for resits. If you didn't hear anything : congratulations you have passed. My county contacted me 2 months later!

Anyway, sailed the resit so all good.
 
RustyRef said:
Also bear in mind that once you get to level 4 and above the FA have a habit of pulling spot exams. So you'll turn up to a mandatory seminar only to find an exam paper sitting on each table ..!
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Neil Barry has said that he has an expectation that there will be a test on the LOTG at all meetings of L4 and above. Us Observers also get tests, and if we fail we can be suspended.
At L4, if you don't know LOTG well and an incident occurs chaos can reign. In front of spectators you need to maintain control.
 
lincs22 said:
Neil Barry has said that he has an expectation that there will be a test on the LOTG at all meetings of L4 and above. Us Observers also get tests, and if we fail we can be suspended.
At L4, if you don't know LOTG well and an incident occurs chaos can reign. In front of spectators you need to maintain control.
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Yes that's what we've been told here too, expect a test/quiz whatever you want to call at every meeting!
 
Interesting one this, as if I had my way EVERY referee and observer would have to pass a LoTG test at least every two years. There are too many referees active out there who are applying laws from 5 years, 10 years, or even longer. All referees get notified of new laws, but do all of them actually read them, and if they do read them do they necessarily understand them? I've seen a referee this season insist that the kick off must go forwards, no idea what rock they have been living under, and it doesn't really affect the game, but that is embarrassing. I've also seen referees apply archaic offside laws.

In other professions you have to re-certify regularly, and I think I am right in saying that rugby referees have to do this. And with technology these days it could easily be done on line - for example answer 20 questions in 30 minutes which gives the referee little or no time to refer to the LoTG as they take it.

Never going to happen I know. As lincs22 says though, at L4 and above it will, and it is vital that referees know the laws inside out, but probably more importantly the competition laws. There are so many stories of games having to be replayed because referees have incorrectly applied competition rules, normally in relation to whether to play extra time or not. Make that mistake and your reputation and career is unlikely to ever recover.
 
The problem that you always run into with this is that many leagues struggle to get anywhere near 100% coverage as it is - using refs who are 10 years out of date and all. It's a wonderful idea forcing regular re-tests, but until we have a surplus of referees, no county FA or grassroots league is going to be turning away those who are willing to give up their time unless they make a serious mistake.
 
I have long proposed that all referees participate in a fitness test too. Healthy minds, healthy bodies etc. But for the same reasons GraemeS has pointed out it will never happen
 
GraemeS said:
And that's my promotion confirmed! Hopefully L5 will give me some opportunities to work with NAR's before the end of this season, so that I'm not assessed on my first ever go with them post fitness test!
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Congrats matey!
 
To date, I have never failed any assessment in getting the required mark or any promotion season! :(... Mind you, I've never applied either.:cry:,.. 500+ games under my belt (all ruined) and 'i'll carry on regardless' (i'm sure there is a song in that), until I jack in for good or someone from the Sweet FA tells me to 'go forth and multiply!' Teams can shove their biased club marks scheme and all the other rubbish where the sun don't shine!!! This lads not for turning!!!:devil:
 
Cheshire got nominations 1st week in March. Although no dates were mooted to us as to when the fa committe would hold their meeting. 24 Apr? Assume thats the meeting date. It was a week or 2 later than the meeting last year before we got the email confirmations.
 
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