A&H

How many games a weekend do you do?

Reuben Watt

New Member
Hi fellow refs!
This weekend I have been given 4 games to referee. 2 on the Saturday -under 11's and 2 on sunday- one under 13's and the other under 14's.
Would you say this is too much to referee on one weekend bearing in mind it will be over 260 minutes of football? How much do you referee in a weekend?
 
The Referee Store
Can't speak for anyone else but three was my limit, open age Saturday pm and two youth matches on a Sunday, preferably back to back and usually the older players......so that's 270 minutes with 180 of them preferably around a thirty minute break.......
 
Nowadays i dont like to do more than 2 and preferably 1 in the middle and 1 line.
Mainly because I dont want to overdo it and injure myself not because I cant cope..
 
I started out in September and have been doing one adults Saturday and one Sunday.
Was fine til this weekend when the swamps sapped the energy from your legs!
 
Hi fellow refs!
This weekend I have been given 4 games to referee. 2 on the Saturday -under 11's and 2 on sunday- one under 13's and the other under 14's.
Would you say this is too much to referee on one weekend bearing in mind it will be over 260 minutes of football? How much do you referee in a weekend?
That's nothing. When I was refereeing in my old area, I'd be doing 4-5 games on a Saturday, combination of middles and lines, U/10 through to O/35 in the afternoon (usually 3 juniors, 2x O35, but it varies). After 2x U/18 on Fri night (1 middle, 1 line), and 3 seniors on Sunday (1x AA middle, 1x reserve grade line, 1x first grade centre, though that varies). And we didn't use CAR's - I might have a NAR or two, or might have nothing. Also, the Australian winter is hotter than your summer is ;-)

Now, I'd say that is too much - but you handle it by pacing yourself. Sure, it means you may run less than you'd like to , but that's rarely actually a problem if you're pre-empting play.

the ages groups you're talking about don't require a great deal of running unless they're really, really high level. Heck, even if we were appointed to the state league (representative) level games, it would usually be a middle and 2 lines or so.

Unless you have particular fitness concerns I'd say you should be able to handles those games without any problems. Just warm up, warm down, and remain hydrated.
 
Last edited:
Two kids games Saturday morning, 25 each way, and a men's Saturday and Sunday usually, standard 45 each way.

You might think you're fit enough to do loads but you don't always realize how straining it can be on your body, especially at higher standards.

It's not worth the few extra quid to end up with dodgy knees or a pulled hammy by the time you're 30.
 
I will only referee when I can give my all, and I know I can't do two games on the same day. Or rather I could, but I wouldn't be anywhere near close enough to decisions, so I'm not doing it.
 
I often do one line and one centre on Saturday and two lines and a centre on Sunday. That's 450 minutes (close to equivalent of running a marathon over a 32hr period). Pretty sore on the Monday but by Tuesday I am good o go again.
On top of that, one or two mentoring/observations on Saturday before my games.

We are very short of referees here and anyone who is willing is pushed to their limits.
 
Yeah, one Saturday/one Sunday is my limit too. I've done a double-header on Saturday followed by a Sunday morning match, but that's my record. I'm not sure I'd be able to give my best in all the matches if I did more, and I'm not sure that stressing about getting the first match done in time to get to the second is the best preparation for me either.
 
I did 3 youth middles in a day once, a long time ago. 2 in one location and a 3rd in another. Felt on top of 3rd game from the start, but wouldn't repeat now.

End of Nov/beginning of December I have 5 (2 youth middles, 1 U18 line, 1 U23 line and Womens Open age line) in 12 days - that's about my limit!

I did do two U23 consecutive evening lines in August - both over 50 miles & 2 1/2 hours total travelling each - but not something I would choose to do again!
 
1 game a week is enough for me these days. Mentally I would love to do more games, but physically my body often feels like it's falling apart and post match recovery seems to take longer with each passing year. :(

Also after a long week at work, need to spend time relaxing with my nearest and dearest. So as much as I love my footy and being the big bad baldy in black, they will always be no1 priority!
 
Having a fallow season, it may be the end I'm not sure, thought i would miss it and TBF I haven't. Never done it for the money, it was all about enjoyment, alas now my 3 younger grandkids are growing up they are becoming more deserving of my time.
My second daughter has bought a house that we are currently gutting so i wouldn't dream of doing a game at the moment, turned quite a few down, even charity games. Still love the craic but I think my career is over..... maybe!!! :(
 
I guess it all depends on how fit you are and what level you are doing. Under 11's, 13's etc are not especially taxing and on the rare instances where i've got down to this age group, i've tracked reasonably low miles compared to older age groups and adult games.

For me, One Adult Game Saturday (Either top division local league or County League middle, or Supply League Line) and One Adult or U18 Middle on a Sunday.

I've done a couple of U18, U16 Double headers on a Sunday morning, but would never dream of doing a Saturday morning game before doing a County or Supply league game on a Saturday.
 
I have done back to back line plus middle on the same day and doing that on consecutive days quite a few times this season. Legs have been good. However, I wouldn't take a serious middle immediately before a previously scheduled very high level line - that would be asking for trouble and be a bit rude to colleagues. Back to back higher level middles hasn't come up yet and I would avoid it - performance is going to be affected if you try 10+10km with little break. Doing a 10 plus 5-6 on the line is fine for me though. Lower level games? Line them up! 2 35-40 min lower level middles or even 2 middles plus a quite serious line on the same day is OK for me. And I run!

But one on sat, one on sun... lord of course... but only if I can charm Ms Sang!
 
Back
Top