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New ref

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Tommo90

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Hi there.
2 years ago Ive torn my ACL and after a while Ive decided I want to be involved in football again but not as a player anymore. Im finding refereeing very fascinating. Im hoping to do a course in February 2020 for West Riding FA. Any tips and advices for new refs in West Yorkshire? Could someone give me a bit more insight about the courses and expectations? I really dont have an idea how it works and dont know anyone with ref qualified. Much appreciated. Thanks
 
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The Referee Store
Where abouts in west riding are you?

There's plenty of us from there on the forum to help!
Hi. I live in Dewsbury 4min drive from Leeds or Wakefield.
With next available course being in Feb 2020, can I attend earlier course in different county fa?
 
Yes. You can do your course in one county, but do your games and be registered to another. I did my course in Cambridgeshire but all of my games were for Suffolk my home county, and I also did my exam in suffolk as the date was before the exam in cambridgeshire.
 
Hi. I live in Dewsbury 4min drive from Leeds or Wakefield.
With next available course being in Feb 2020, can I attend earlier course in different county fa?
I remember on my course somebody from Sheffield came through to the East Riding and did it here. There is a course on Monday at Roy West centre. Contact Will Dodds on 01482 221158
 
I remember on my course somebody from Sheffield came through to the East Riding and did it here. There is a course on Monday at Roy West centre. Contact Will Dodds on 01482 221158
Thanks Rowanmano. Im looking for dates after 1st of November. Cant get time off work till then. I dont mind travelling too far so will be looking at booking a course very soon. Cheers
 
Once I pass the course can you guys please tell me what happens next? Do I get assigned to local league? Have I got limited time to complete first 5 games? Also do you set the day for come back assigment meeting or is this given by FA?
I know 3 full day course, ia this including safeguarding or would that me a additiinal day? Just trying to work out how many days I will need of work. And probably most important question is that I am not british. I havent got british passport but I am living in UK since 2010. Is this going to stop me to join, would you know? Thanks
 
@Tommo90 so a few points.

I wouldn't rush to pass your course. I wouldn't recommend going to another County to pass your course. The main reason is that the West Riding County FA have an established mentor programme in place for new referees and it takes them from the course to their first promotion. If you complete your course in another County, it adds in an extra layer of unnecessary admin and also the travelling.

Second thing, it's a bit longer than 4 minutes from Dewsbury to either Leeds or Wakefield. I know this because I have the misfortune to live there.

Third thing, if you do the course with West Riding, there's a chance I'll be involved in your course.

As far as how things work... you'll attend an introductory evening before doing two full days of practical training and assessment. You'll be trained in how to inspect a field of play and what to do if there's anything wrong. You'll get shown and have the chance to demonstrate all of the signals used by a referee and an assistant referee. You'll be trained on how to manage an attacking free kick and the defensive wall. You'll also learn how to manage a penalty kick. You will get some training in how move around the field. You'll also get training in how to manage non-players, injuries and substitutions. You'll also be trained in how to caution and send off players/club officials and how to report their offences. You'll be assessed in how you apply all of these skills in a practice game involving all of the other candidates on the course. Finally, you'll have to take a short test on the laws of the game. If you are good enough, you move to the next stage.

You'll also need to attend an evening Safeguarding workshop and complete a DBS search.

The next stage involves you finding 5 games to referee. You'll be provided with the details of all the leagues in the County. Dewsbury is in the middle of the area covered by the Huddersfield JFL, which is one of the largest in the country. You'll also be on the outer edge of the recently formed Calder Valley Sunday League. You are close to the centre of the Yorkshire Amateur League which is a large men's open age league which plays on Saturdays. You're also close to the West Riding Women's Football League who play on Sunday afternoons. Finally, you are also close to the centre of the county's only supply league which is my league, the West Yorkshire Association Football League. Games are played from the second week of August through to early May. Premier Division offers the opportunity to work with referees at Level 4 (they run the line in semi-pro football). There are 4 other divisions which need 32 referees every Saturday.

You will also be offered the support of mentor to who you can talk after your games. They'll try to get along to one of your first 5 games. These 5 games need to be 11v11 or 9v9 with offside. You will also have the chance to join your local Referees Association. The Heavy Woollen RA meet on the last Monday each month at Heckmondwike Sports Club. Current members include Martin Atkinson. Previous members have included both Bobby and Andy Madley. They have guest speakers at most meetings, usually current PGMOL staff or senior figures within refereeing (e.g. Keith Hackett, who used to run the PGMOL).

Once you've done your 5 games, you come back and do a formal laws of the game examination. Pass that and you are no longer a trainee but a qualified referee.

If you need anything else, just reply here.
 
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Thank you Brian. Thats what I was looking for and more. Yes I'd rather do a course in WR FA which I believe is in Halifax. I know one this year is full then next one is in Feb 2020. Thanks again. If I need anything else Ill be asking on this chat. Thanks again! Tom
 
You can also do the Safeguarding workshop prior to completing the ref course, which is useful as you need to complete this prior to being allowed to referee your first game. There isn’t always a Safeguarding workshop straight after the course so I would advise getting this out of the way if you can so you can take up appointments as soon as the course is completed.
 
I don't have an answer for where you are. But I know the moderators don't like resurrecting an old thread. Starting a new thread with your question would give you a better chance of getting a quick answer.
 
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