A&H

My intro,Finding matches in 'off season' and Random new ref Qs

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LondonBen

New Member
Hey guys
I'm hopefully about to pass my course. And wondered the below :
A little about me : 31,fit,highly ambitious to improve quickly and move up.

1.Can I get games all Yr round? Inc June-Aug?
2. When doing pitch inspection, if its been badly fouled by dogs ****, is this a problem? what do you do? Is this the responsibility of the home team?
3.assuming I can do 5 matches a week every week, and my performance is good, any tips on how to improve quickly and get promoted?
4.how do I find line opportunities? Is it just a case of contacting leagues direct?

Thanks
Ben
 
The Referee Store
Hi Ben, good luck on the course!

1. Possibly, your Ref Appointing Officer should send out details on any games that need covering, but don't be afraid to email him first and state your intentions. A little tip too, if your 'admin' (league specific reports, Whole Game etc) is good, you're more likely to get appointments, so keep on top of that!
2. It is absolutely the home team's responsibility. Most clubs who use public pitches will have a shovel and bags ready for such occasions and often expect it. If you see some mid-game don't be afraid to stop play once the ball is out and ask the club to remove it.
3. My advice would be to get the games in, the test, fitness test passed and whatever else your County FA decree and go from there. Some County FA's allow some referees to 'double jump', but it is certainly not common. I'd say I am ambitious, but I don't want to rush anything either. Get the experience in, make your mistakes and learn from them and go from there. If you smash in your required games and such by the half way point tehn speak to your CFA and go from there.
4. Again, speak to your Appointing Officer and maybe the Referee Development Officer at your CFA and ask for direction. Lines are given as a priority to promotion candidates at my CFA, so I get emailed about them. I also knew another ref who needs to get lines in for promotion, so together we did a game as unpaid neutral assistants with the appointing officer's blessing! A great idea if you're not in it for the money, and the clubs were happy that subs didn't have to run the line. If I don't have a game I get in touch with the Appointing Officer and ask him to pass my name on to other nearby leagues. The more you get your name out and about the more chance you have of picking games up.

Finally, there's a wealth of information on here. Look through and learn from other folks mistakes, pick up tips and most importantly enjoy what you do!
 
Peach said:
Hi Ben, good luck on the course!

1. Possibly, your Ref Appointing Officer should send out details on any games that need covering, but don't be afraid to email him first and state your intentions. A little tip too, if your 'admin' (league specific reports, Whole Game etc) is good, you're more likely to get appointments, so keep on top of that!
2. It is absolutely the home team's responsibility. Most clubs who use public pitches will have a shovel and bags ready for such occasions and often expect it. If you see some mid-game don't be afraid to stop play once the ball is out and ask the club to remove it.
3. My advice would be to get the games in, the test, fitness test passed and whatever else your County FA decree and go from there. Some County FA's allow some referees to 'double jump', but it is certainly not common. I'd say I am ambitious, but I don't want to rush anything either. Get the experience in, make your mistakes and learn from them and go from there. If you smash in your required games and such by the half way point tehn speak to your CFA and go from there.
4. Again, speak to your Appointing Officer and maybe the Referee Development Officer at your CFA and ask for direction. Lines are given as a priority to promotion candidates at my CFA, so I get emailed about them. I also knew another ref who needs to get lines in for promotion, so together we did a game as unpaid neutral assistants with the appointing officer's blessing! A great idea if you're not in it for the money, and the clubs were happy that subs didn't have to run the line. If I don't have a game I get in touch with the Appointing Officer and ask him to pass my name on to other nearby leagues. The more you get your name out and about the more chance you have of picking games up.

Finally, there's a wealth of information on here. Look through and learn from other folks mistakes, pick up tips and most importantly enjoy what you do!
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Thanks peach! The head of refs just told me they will help me find games come Aug, which is nice of him but I know I'll be itching to dive in ASAP!

Thanks again for the time you put into the reply, appreciate it dude :)
 
London FA too.

They do allow you to go on the accelerated promotion from level 7 to 5.

I would also advise going to the monthly Mastermind meetings which they have if you can. They are on a Monday between 7pm and 9pm near Pimilico.

The next one is on the 13th May, you can see it on the courses here:
https://eventspace.thefa.com/londonfa/participant/s.aspx?eventlen=55

They're quite popular and you get a range of levels there, if you're looking to go up the ranks I'd recommend going as you'll pick up some valuable tips.
 
Trueman1991 said:
London FA too.

They do allow you to go on the accelerated promotion from level 7 to 5.

I would also advise going to the monthly Mastermind meetings which they have if you can. They are on a Monday between 7pm and 9pm near Pimilico.

The next one is on the 13th May, you can see it on the courses here:
https://eventspace.thefa.com/londonfa/participant/s.aspx?eventlen=55

They're quite popular and you get a range of levels there, if you're looking to go up the ranks I'd recommend going as you'll pick up some valuable tips.
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Thanks mate. How do you get onto the accelerated promotion program? Do I apply?

Just tried to book the mastermind meeting but I won't be fully qualified until late May. I will def attend others though, I can't see any other mastermind dates for the year, do they add them monthly to the link you sent?

Thanks for the help dude!
 
You apply online, the promotion season has just started so you'll need to go for the next one which won't be until next year. You'll get an email through and you apply on the courses page, just like with Mastermind.

They normally put a have a couple on, suspect they might only have that one on there because its the end of the season soon. Keep checking the link and they'll appear.

Once you've done your course let me know if you're looking for leagues. Im on a couple in South London, they are adult leagues though so depends what you were planning on doing.

Can also put you in touch with a few referee secretaries from professional academies if you wanted to do some youth games for them. Again they're in South London.
 
Trueman1991 said:
You apply online, the promotion season has just started so you'll need to go for the next one which won't be until next year. You'll get an email through and you apply on the courses page, just like with Mastermind.

They normally put a have a couple on, suspect they might only have that one on there because its the end of the season soon. Keep checking the link and they'll appear.

Once you've done your course let me know if you're looking for leagues. Im on a couple in South London, they are adult leagues though so depends what you were planning on doing.

Can also put you in touch with a few referee secretaries from professional academies if you wanted to do some youth games for them. Again they're in South London.
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Cheers man, super helpful.

I'll definitely keep a look out for the mastermind meets. I'll shoot you a DM.

Ideally I'd like to have something more east London (I'm on the border of East ldn and Essex) unfortunately the Essex ref guy doesn't reply to my emails so Ive been going through ldn.
Happy to do youth games in South ldn (if they cover the £10 train expenses!)

Thanks again for the time to write that up, will have to meet up at the mastermind events. I'll just for Trueman :)
 
LondonBen said:
Cheers man, super helpful.

I'll definitely keep a look out for the mastermind meets. I'll shoot you a DM.

Ideally I'd like to have something more east London (I'm on the border of East ldn and Essex) unfortunately the Essex ref guy doesn't reply to my emails so Ive been going through ldn.
Happy to do youth games in South ldn (if they cover the £10 train expenses!)

Thanks again for the time to write that up, will have to meet up at the mastermind events. I'll just for Trueman :)
Click to expand...
The previous RDO in Essex left around a month ago, so if you've been trying to email James, that might explain why you've not had much back recently! If you do want to get back in touch with Essex, drop me a PM and I'll reply with the email addresses you need?
 
For East London / West Essex try contacting Hackney & Leyton Sunday League (games at Hackney Marshes), Essex Sunday Corinthian League, and Essex Sunday Football Combination. For Saturdays your best option is probably Amateur Football Combination or Southern Amateur League, these will also give you the opportunity to start "lining" in their top divisions to get experience.

Once you have experience as an assistant referee your local supply leagues are Essex Senior League and Eastern Counties (Thurlow Nunn) Southern Division 1.
 
RustyRef said:
For East London / West Essex try contacting Hackney & Leyton Sunday League (games at Hackney Marshes), Essex Sunday Corinthian League, and Essex Sunday Football Combination. For Saturdays your best option is probably Amateur Football Combination or Southern Amateur League, these will also give you the opportunity to start "lining" in their top divisions to get experience.

Once you have experience as an assistant referee your local supply leagues are Essex Senior League and Eastern Counties (Thurlow Nunn) Southern Division 1.
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Thanks so much! ill defiently reach out to them when im qualified. slightly off topic, but is there anywhere that I can read up on what all these league terminology means? Maybe it will come with time, but for exmaple - whats a "supply league"? and how is it different to other leagues (very possibly a very stupid question!)

Thanks,
Ben
 
LondonBen said:
Thanks so much! ill defiently reach out to them when im qualified. slightly off topic, but is there anywhere that I can read up on what all these league terminology means? Maybe it will come with time, but for exmaple - whats a "supply league"? and how is it different to other leagues (very possibly a very stupid question!)

Thanks,
Ben
Click to expand...

A good place to start - https://www.refchat.co.uk/threads/abbreviations.12786/
 
LondonBen said:
Thanks so much! ill defiently reach out to them when im qualified. slightly off topic, but is there anywhere that I can read up on what all these league terminology means? Maybe it will come with time, but for exmaple - whats a "supply league"? and how is it different to other leagues (very possibly a very stupid question!)

Thanks,
Ben
Click to expand...
Have a look at national league system on Wikipedia. That will give you a fair idea. Supply league is the lowest levels of the national league system
 
Ben....
Not to douse the flames of enthusiasm, but one needs to learn to walk first. Besides the requirements of promotion application, i'm not an advocate of the double jump. Even for someone blessed with appropriate life experience, refereeing takes time to learn and there's a risk of getting in too deep, too quick and the dropping out all together; when things turn sour
I'm cautious by nature however
 
Big Cat said:
Ben....
Not to douse the flames of enthusiasm, but one needs to learn to walk first. Besides the requirements of promotion application, i'm not an advocate of the double jump. Even for someone blessed with appropriate life experience, refereeing takes time to learn and there's a risk of getting in too deep, too quick and the dropping out all together; when things turn sour
I'm cautious by nature however
Click to expand...
Yep, absolutely, I'm under no illusion. I'm not trying to get ahead of myself. I'm just gathering information.

Thanks for the help and concern though, I can certainly imagine people doing a few games and thinking they've arrived. Im more interested in being the best ref I can, and part of that of course means challenging myself.

Cheers.
 
LondonBen said:
Yep, absolutely, I'm under no illusion. I'm not trying to get ahead of myself. I'm just gathering information.

Thanks for the help and concern though, I can certainly imagine people doing a few games and thinking they've arrived. Im more interested in being the best ref I can, and part of that of course means challenging myself.

Cheers.
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Ben,

Double jumping is fine especially the 7-5 jump as the stranded you referee is very similar. I wouldn't recommend the 6-4 as I know a few referee's who struggled due to the leap in skill level.

What I would say is to do the double jump and gain the experience you need to live and breath refereeing so you are prepared for when you get to level 4.

This is my 5th full season reffing and 3rd at level 4 and now i feel comfortable, age helps but also understanding you cant referee each level of football the same.

Best of luck
 
7-5 is very difficult in terms of how much you have to referee and shouldn't be underestimated. You need to referee 20 games between 1st March and 30th September, which given games may be lost to the weather in March and / or leagues may finish early, this can be challenging. That is actually a double edged sword, as if the weather is good seasons are likely to finish well before the end of May. You then also have to consider that many grass roots leagues don't start back up until the second weekend in September, so that doesn't leave a lot of leeway.

Even if both your Saturday and Sunday leagues don't lose any games to weather, play on Easter and May Day weekends, play right up until the end of May, you are appointed every week, and start back up at the start of September, that is 18 weekends. It is doable, but not easy.
 
RustyRef said:
7-5 is very difficult in terms of how much you have to referee and shouldn't be underestimated. You need to referee 20 games between 1st March and 30th September, which given games may be lost to the weather in March and / or leagues may finish early, this can be challenging. That is actually a double edged sword, as if the weather is good seasons are likely to finish well before the end of May. You then also have to consider that many grass roots leagues don't start back up until the second weekend in September, so that doesn't leave a lot of leeway.

Even if both your Saturday and Sunday leagues don't lose any games to weather, play on Easter and May Day weekends, play right up until the end of May, you are appointed every week, and start back up at the start of September, that is 18 weekends. It is doable, but not easy.
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If your committed it's not difficult! My back ground is Mon-Friday 8-5 Job so the commitment wasn't difficult. I played at a good level so fitness and understanding of the game wasn't difficult.

Like I said you need to live and breath it, if you do it's not difficult!

working weekends and being out of shape, I agree! that would make it difficult.
 
Ryan Woods said:
If your committed it's not difficult! My back ground is Mon-Friday 8-5 Job so the commitment wasn't difficult. I played at a good level so fitness and understanding of the game wasn't difficult.

Like I said you need to live and breath it, if you do it's not difficult!

working weekends and being out of shape, I agree! that would make it difficult.
Click to expand...

My point was more that you are reliant on a bit of luck. If the weather is bad in March and even April you lose weekends, or on the flip side the weather is great in the Winter months prior to March and the league finishes that month (as happened to lots this season), you are going to be short.
 
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