The Ref Stop

How often are ref courses run?

N

NatCole

New Member
Hi everyone!
Last Sunday I put my name down on the Registering of Interest form so that I will be offered a place on future Ref courses. I know that courses only happen when there is enough interest, meaning the frequency is not exact, but how long roughly will it take for me to find a course, and then how much time do they allow before it actually happens?
Sorry if it seems I'm impatient just looking forward to it!
 
The Ref Stop
NatCole said:
Hi everyone!
Last Sunday I put my name down on the Registering of Interest form so that I will be offered a place on future Ref courses. I know that courses only happen when there is enough interest, meaning the frequency is not exact, but how long roughly will it take for me to find a course, and then how much time do they allow before it actually happens?
Sorry if it seems I'm impatient just looking forward to it!
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I guess it depends how many local FA’s you registered an interest with, i enquiried and left details with three FA’s and found they all had courses coming up fairly soon & went with the closest one to me.

The more FA’s you enquire with the more courses you’ll be notified of as and when they come up, the only down fall is they might not be so local & you’ll have to wait for your closest FA to run a course, I guess it’s all down to how quick you want to get on it & how far your willing to travel.
 
Men in Black said:
I guess it depends how many local FA’s you registered an interest with, i enquiried and left details with three FA’s and found they all had courses coming up fairly soon & went with the closest one to me.

The more FA’s you enquire with the more courses you’ll be notified of as and when they come up, the only down fall is they might not be so local & you’ll have to wait for your closest FA to run a course, I guess it’s all down to how quick you want to get on it & how far your willing to travel.
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Thanks! I'm in Essex so don't really want to so outside of it. Don't mind where inside Essex though. How often do you think is worse case?
Mintyref said:
Most CFAs will be running at least a couple of courses each season.
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Thats not a lot to be fair. Worrying how little are applying!
 
NatCole said:
Thanks! I'm in Essex so don't really want to so outside of it. Don't mind where inside Essex though. How often do you think is worse case?

Thats not a lot to be fair. Worrying how little are applying!
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Well im situated basically in the middle of Berks & Bucks London Middx & Surrey so I registered an interest with all of them & could have got on a course that same week, infact all four emailed me within two to three weeks with courses that were coming up & I just went with the closest in distance to me which wasn’t the first course available it was two months away but I chose it purely on location.

Essex is a huge county I would imagine they run courses through out the year with such a large population of people living in the area, but I wouldn’t know how often maybe give them a call if you don’t hear anything for a while ask what’s coming up ref course wise.
 
Men in Black said:
Well im situated basically in the middle of Berks & Bucks London Middx & Surrey so I registered an interest with all of them & could have got on a course that same week, infact all four emailed me within two to three weeks with courses that were coming up & I just went with the closest in distance to me which wasn’t the first course available it was two months away but I chose it purely on location.

Essex is a huge county I would imagine they run courses through out the year with such a large population of people living in the area, but I wouldn’t know how often maybe give them a call if you don’t hear anything for a while ask what’s coming up ref course wise.
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Yeah I will in say a month. But as I said I only asked just over a week ago so not that long. End of the month I might ask. I've seen previously that they're held at Essex Uni which is the complete other side of Essex to me but only an hours drive so not that bad. Theoretically, say I did a course in say Kent, would you be a Surrey registered ref and do your games there unless you asked to change, or can you just go with whatever?
 
NatCole said:
Yeah I will in say a month. But as I said I only asked just over a week ago so not that long. End of the month I might ask. I've seen previously that they're held at Essex Uni which is the complete other side of Essex to me but only an hours drive so not that bad. Theoretically, say I did a course in say Kent, would you be a Surrey registered ref and do your games there unless you asked to change, or can you just go with whatever?
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Don’t quote me on it but it doesn’t matter where you do your course and it doesn’t matter which county you register with once qualified you can ref in any league in any county.

Kent is a county it has nothing to do with Surrey.

I did my course in middx & I’m currently refereeing in Berks & Bucks.
 
Men in Black said:
Don’t quote me on it but it doesn’t matter where you do your course and it doesn’t matter which county you register with once qualified you can ref in any league in any county.

Kent is a county it has nothing to do with Surrey.

I did my course in middx & I’m currently refereeing in Berks & Bucks.
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I meant would I be Kent registered lol. But thanks for help!
 
@NatCole Yeah I am registered with Oxfordshire FA as that's where I did my course, but also referee in Cheshire/Manchester when I'm back home from uni
 
I'm based in Essex, and although I didn't do my initial course here, I have done a lot of various county events. County HQ is in Chelmsford, so there will certainly be courses there, but I'd say it's fairly common for things to happen in Colchester as well, and often somewhere in south Essex too - either Basildon or Southend. If you're in the NW of the county, you might have a bit of a journey, but anywhere else and it should be fairly nearby.

In terms of frequency, I'd say 3 times a year is probably the minimum if you're prepared to travel around the county.
 
GraemeS said:
I'm based in Essex, and although I didn't do my initial course here, I have done a lot of various county events. County HQ is in Chelmsford, so there will certainly be courses there, but I'd say it's fairly common for things to happen in Colchester as well, and often somewhere in south Essex too - either Basildon or Southend. If you're in the NW of the county, you might have a bit of a journey, but anywhere else and it should be fairly nearby.

In terms of frequency, I'd say 3 times a year is probably the minimum if you're prepared to travel around the county.
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I'm in basildon so south west. Don't mind anywhere in the county really. Colchester is like worst case but even then I've been there a bit and it's only an hour away. Any idea if this time of year is likely to be a popular/ busy sign-up time?
 
They do on the odd occasion have courses in Basildon - I remember once going down there to speak to the trainee referees. I'm based down the road in Rayleigh - if you're really keen it's a good idea to annoy James Lisher - I remember I did the same thing when I started!
 
HarryD said:
They do on the odd occasion have courses in Basildon - I remember once going down there to speak to the trainee referees. I'm based down the road in Rayleigh - if you're really keen it's a good idea to annoy James Lisher - I remember I did the same thing when I started!
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Yeah I saw hes the ref recruitment guy but didn't want to be a pain. Only applied 9 days ago!
 
I did my course in Cambridgeshire and was registered to them in my first season but reffed the majority of games in Suffolk. I took the exam in Suffolk. My parent county is now Suffolk but I am registered in Essex, Cambs and Norfolk as well as my home county, although I have only done games in Norfolk and Suffolk this year.
 
NatCole said:
Yeah because I'm 18 and wondered what I'd end up doing most.
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It's up to you since from the age of 17, if I'm not mistaken, you are free to choose either. I personally would recommend to start with youth football. Get used to what you were taught in the course and slowly develop your character before taking the plunge into OA.
 
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