The Ref Stop

Offered a place on a course, do I want it?

C

ConnorWJH

New Member
Hi all,

Been accepted to attend a course at the end of July, I coach U5/U6 development football at a decent level club (previously had been in the old vanarama north) long story they dropped down divisions due to finance and now building back up, I was encouraged by the head of youth development to give the referee course a go,

So done my research and found a course that I'm able to attend and stumbled across this site whilst googling away, my main worries are not being able to control games and the abuse, I'm 25 5ft4 and only a slim build (9st) and have a bit of baby face so main worry is that players would try it on with me and not listen (happens often in normal life so definitely would on a pitch)🤣, I thought about youth football but I've got experience of pushy parents from coaching and they're a nightmare at times.

Does anyone have any experiences or advice that may give me an insight?

Thanks in advance!
 
The Ref Stop
The course will give you great guidance on how to control games. I wouldn't worry about your size. I know some some large refs that aren't very good and some small guys that are really good. Most of the abuse comes from ignorance. They don't know the laws of the game.
Just be a good ref for the 99% great guys and girls that enjoy the beautiful game.
 
So do you want to be a ref that’s the first question?

You’ve mentioned you coach young kids so what is the thinking behind you possibly taking the course and your colleague encouraging it.
 
Men in Black said:
So do you want to be a ref that’s the first question?

You’ve mentioned you coach young kids so what is the thinking behind you possibly taking the course and your colleague encouraging it.
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I would like to atleast give it a go and see if it's something thing I enjoy, I started coaching young kids cos I enjoy that side of the game, the chat with youth development came about in training. I'd ref the practice 5 a side matches and just got chatting about how I was enjoying coaching he mentioned about refereeing courses being available If i wanted to pursue that route and there would be games at the club for me to ref if/when I was qualified,

Just that nervousness about whether or not I stick to refereeing games at my club when they need a ref and probably not getting paid for it, or actually looking at registering with a league and doing it as a permanent long time hobby
 
If it’s free then go for it, it’s a learning experience and if you plan to be involved in football in whatever capacity then it’s another string to your bow.

As far as refereeing games once qualified just take one step at a time, don’t think that far ahead, as part of the course you’ll have to do 5 games anyway so that’ll give you more of an insight as to what it’s like & how you get on, start with mini football and work your way up the ages as & when you feel ready and comfortable.

I’d say go for it learn some stuff you never knew & even if you end up not enjoying refereeing you’ll have the qualification for life & it’s another thing in your portfolio to do with football.
 
it can only be a good thing, you will learn the laws of the game, most coaches havent a clue, you will learn to deal with confrontation,, and if you decide to referee 11 a side you will have a nice shiny red and yellow card
 
You may not be thanking us once you’ve qualified Connor.. ;)
 
Like @BCMilan said, size is completely irrelevant
If you progress at a sensible pace, refereeing may give you the confidence to overcome such things as nervousness. Getting out of your comfort zone could put you on an unexpected path of personal development, whilst keeping fit and getting paid for it! You soon get used to hullabaloo :flip:
 
Yeah, I think getting the initial so many games out the way and learning how to deal with backchat and the bullsh*t will be where I don't enjoy it, I suppose not alot of people do really, but we'll see 😊
Big Cat said:
Like @BCMilan said, size is completely irrelevant
If you progress at a sensible pace, refereeing may give you the confidence to overcome such things as nervousness. Getting out of your comfort zone could put you on an unexpected path of personal development, whilst keeping fit and getting paid for it! You soon get used to hullabaloo :flip:
Click to expand...
 
It took a couple of seasons for me to realise it was for me. And those first couple of seasons I made some ricks and got very confused at times about how to handle the BS. And after 5 years the dissent is never fun. It takes games and games to get into it. Don't expect it to make sense overnight.

Take your time. Give it a go. Enjoy;)
 
ConnorWJH said:
Yeah, I think getting the initial so many games out the way and learning how to deal with backchat and the bullsh*t will be where I don't enjoy it, I suppose not alot of people do really, but we'll see 😊
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I'm not brilliant with confrontation. I'm inclined to want everyone to get along
These traits conflict with demands of refereeing. If it was easy, I wouldn't have gotten the bug for it
 
Personally I would pay for the course myself. They’ll be expectations of doing certain things if you go through the club.
I presume you’d prefer to be coaching when your at the club, you can referee when your away from that environment.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone 👍 I'll look at getting it booked asap, worst comes to worst I've only gotta ref a couple of games to get my money back
 
Big Cat said:
I'm not brilliant with confrontation. I'm inclined to want everyone to get along
These traits conflict with demands of refereeing. If it was easy, I wouldn't have gotten the bug for it
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I hate confrontation aswell, so I try to use other skills to control games. They tend to warm to you once they get used to the fact you are trying to manage the game (explain decisions etc), rather than being card happy. However, you must draw a line and stick to the LOTG, otherwise they will think you are a pushover. Trust me, they'll have more respect when you do.
 
Regardless of whether you continue to carry on and be a "practicing referee", I would highly encourage you to qualify as I believe it improves you as a coach. You gain a different insight in to the game than having just played it.
 
connor remember there are loads of experienced referees on here happy to help and remember,
the only silly question is the one you dont ask, one of us will have been there.done that.
 
ConnorWJH said:
Booked it this morning, feeling excited but nervous at the same time, thanks for all the comments/advice 👍
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Well done ! I am a much older person who did a couple of years as a parent reffing to help out I’ve really enjoyed it ! But I thought after only two games from around 20 I had some confrontation which made me feel inadequate as a ref as I was not qualified !!! So now I’m going to do it as I feel as an older person I have something to offer ! I’m not looking forward to doing my 5 games in uniform but not qualified ! What will reaction be????
 
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