A&H

Promotion Scheme U-Turn

There are no Step 5/6 clubs within 20 miles of York. We are in a NLS backspot. Other York City, the next highest club in the NLS is our step 7 league, which doesn't have NAR.

The York Ref Sec is seeing some of his promotion candidates leaving and having less coverage on matches.
Surely the York RDO has encountered this problem with his 6-5 candidates and will have advice on how to get the ARs matches in.

I mean in theory, you could AR any open age game. So if there was enough drive, you and a referee mate could just rock up to a local grassroots game and replace the CARs.
 
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At 6-5 that would definitely be a good idea but at 7-6 wouldn't a Step 7 be better to adjust with slightly less pressure?
My view is if you want to avoid the pressure, don't go for promotion right away.

Get yourself in a position to want and welcome the challenge of moving up.

Everyone is different and if you're less confident or need more time to refine skills, the pathway isn't always the best place to be doing that.

Taking your time isn't a bad thing.
 
My view is if you want to avoid the pressure, don't go for promotion right away.

Get yourself in a position to want and welcome the challenge of moving up.

Everyone is different and if you're less confident or need more time to refine skills, the pathway isn't always the best place to be doing that.

Taking your time isn't a bad thing.
Pressure isn't necessarily the thing I'm looking to avoid, it's more just the challenge of moving into OA games so I may just work my way up for a few months and then join the pathway to be honest.
 
Pressure isn't necessarily the thing I'm looking to avoid, it's more just the challenge of moving into OA games so I may just work my way up for a few months and then join the pathway to be honest.
Perfectly sensible route to take.

Absolutely no reason to force yourself onto the local step 5/6 league and to be doing open age if you want sometime to figure yourself and your style out. Or you just enjoy youth football.

I would recommend refereeing for enjoyment always.

That enjoyment right now might be found in building confidence in an environment you find comfortable.

So crack on, no rush.
 
New fitness test? I think it's the absolute dog's ******** compared to the Cooper Test and should have been introduced 10 years ago (if not more) as it more closely replicates the actions performed in a game. A better preparation for games and certainly one I could have passed in my prime.
The Cooper Test is a widely accepted gold standard test of physical fitness. In the absence of a Lab Test, The Cooper is generally thought of as unsurpassed in terms of an easily accessible and accurate indicator of VO2Max. Yet Referees seem very dismissive of it based on a fairly weak specificity argument. The intriguing aspect from my perspective, is that the shuttle aspect of the Level 4 fitness test falls short (on account of specificity) of the required level of fitness needed to adequately referee a Step 5 game
I've just started per-season training. The L4 17-22 test is my starting point, the L3 15-22 test is an intermediary waymark, whilst the 2600m Cooper is my objective. Only then will I consider myself fit enough to continue as an L4
In the absence of The Cooper and if they really want to improve standards, they should extend the L3 test to L4 and further weed out those not fit enough. They may get an opportunity to do this soon, what with the potential glut of 5s who may target L4
I'm 50, have an obese BMI, haven't lifted a finger for 5 weeks, yet I could go and pass the L4 test this afternoon having drank a bottle of Malbec last night
That can't be right
 
How does this affect refs already mid-promotion who carried over to next season? Do they have to hit the old requirements or new?
 
Surely the York RDO has encountered this problem with his 6-5 candidates and will have advice on how to get the ARs matches in.

I mean in theory, you could AR any open age game. So if there was enough drive, you and a referee mate could just rock up to a local grassroots game and replace the CARs.
York doesn't have an RDO of its own. It is effectively an outpost for 2 or 3 RDO bases because of it's geographical location (at the centre of the old 3 ridings of Yorkshire).
 
The Cooper Test is a widely accepted gold standard test of physical fitness. In the absence of a Lab Test, The Cooper is generally thought of as unsurpassed in terms of an easily accessible and accurate indicator of VO2Max. Yet Referees seem very dismissive of it based on a fairly weak specificity argument. The intriguing aspect from my perspective, is that the shuttle aspect of the Level 4 fitness test falls short (on account of specificity) of the required level of fitness needed to adequately referee a Step 5 game
I've just started per-season training. The L4 17-22 test is my starting point, the L3 15-22 test is an intermediary waymark, whilst the 2600m Cooper is my objective. Only then will I consider myself fit enough to continue as an L4
In the absence of The Cooper and if they really want to improve standards, they should extend the L3 test to L4 and further weed out those not fit enough. They may get an opportunity to do this soon, what with the potential glut of 5s who may target L4
I'm 50, have an obese BMI, haven't lifted a finger for 5 weeks, yet I could go and pass the L4 test this afternoon having drank a bottle of Malbec last night
That can't be right
:)

I'm sure you'll only have half a bottle on the night before your test. As an aside and the VO2 Max reference, have you ever run at a constant pace for 12 minutes during a game? The variance in pace remains more reflective of the actions of a referee and AR during a game. I agree on the extension of the L3 requirements.

I remain, not a sports scientist, but an impartial observer of refereeing.
 
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