The Ref Stop

Recruiting New Referees

Paul Clarke

Paul Clarke

New Member
So, rant alert .. but they don't make it easy for people to train to be a referee.

I am not connected to a club and have never been a player so perhaps I am an anomaly but here is what I have had to do so far...

1. Pay £10 and attend a pre - referees workshop
2. Pay £130 and attend the basic referees course
3. Pay £50 for a new kit and £20 for some boots
4. Pay £30 for a safeguarding workshop

The course finished weeks ago and I now have to get in 5 games. I have heard .. nothing. Not even an acknowledgement that something will happen. So, I guess its up to me to chase people up, beg and ask for 5 games.

I then need to go back and do an exam in the autumn.

After that, if I am still interested I guess I get to referee some games.

Do they have to make it so difficult? Will I get more support moving forward or is it a deliberate ploy to only keep the ultra keen people?
 
The Ref Stop
IMO Referees should get all their fees back from their course (other than CRB etc) after completing X amount of games.

I also got a kit as part of my course, but I guess I was lucky
 
Paul Clarke said:
So, rant alert .. but they don't make it easy for people to train to be a referee.

I am not connected to a club and have never been a player so perhaps I am an anomaly but here is what I have had to do so far...

1. Pay £10 and attend a pre - referees workshop
2. Pay £130 and attend the basic referees course
3. Pay £50 for a new kit and £20 for some boots
4. Pay £30 for a safeguarding workshop

The course finished weeks ago and I now have to get in 5 games. I have heard .. nothing. Not even an acknowledgement that something will happen. So, I guess its up to me to chase people up, beg and ask for 5 games.

I then need to go back and do an exam in the autumn.

After that, if I am still interested I guess I get to referee some games.

Do they have to make it so difficult? Will I get more support moving forward or is it a deliberate ploy to only keep the ultra keen people?
Click to expand...

i just think that might be a question of timing really, ive not long done my course (well, last summer) but i was provided with a list of all the local ref secretarys, and registered with 2 youth leagues and 2 open age. This was to increase the likelihood of actually getting a few games, and also to give me a broad outlook on things from an age group perspective.
I was active within a few weeks, BUT that was because it was so close to the start of the season that i finished the course. From what i see, is that the summer is composed of tournaments, friendlies (pre and post season) and charity games. These seem to be officiated by a network of the same officials, but thats only something that you will get into over time, so not having any games over the summer period is nothing to worry about overly.
ive been lucky enough to be involved in a lot of stuff this off season, but i would attribute that to being a member of my local RA and just getting to know a lot of the local refs.

i'd suggest chasing your RDO first and foremost and get registered with a few local leagues, and join your local RA. they're extremely keen (or certainly are in my area) to assist and help you on the road to becoming a better referee
Season will be starting soon so you'll soon have games galore...:)
 
and it was so easy for me to do it when i qualified 5 years ago. cost me £30 for an intro session, 2 full day practical sessions over a weekend and after all that i got £15 returned when i'd done my 6 (as it was then) games!

crazy why they have so many hoops to jump through and at such a cost. The only benefit i can see is that people now only do the course if they absolutely want to be a referee, before some people did it as a CV exercise
 
That is the reason @es1 so many people, especially young people on The Duke of Edinburgh scheme were using the course as a cheap way of enhancing their profile without having to do an awful lot. As a mentor i was put in touch with three lads not one of them refereed one game, so they have taken the time of two or maybe three tutors and my time chasing them with emails and phone calls for absolutely nothing. Since the scheme changed i have been given another three and they are all excellent, keen and most of all active.

As with everything the minority spoil it for the rest.

Back to the OP @Paul Clarke do exactley what @richard ramjane has said, locals leagues and RDO should be able to help you get some games under your belt. Good luck with it all!!
 
@richard ramjane Join Facebook pages that people put games on. I've had 24 games this pre season and a lot have simply come from that.

@Paul Clarke if you post which town/region you're in then I'm sure someone on here could help with fixtures/contacts. And if you're really lucky Mentoring. Best tip I would give is join your RA!
 
I was on the same course as @Paul Clarke and share his frustrations. I have managed to get myself a couple of games (thanks @Kes !) but there is (amongst those of us who did the course) a sense of abandonment. My 15 yr old nephew also did the course and has also heard nothing.

I have just been back to the CFA website about the course and it says:

"Having successfully graduated from the first four units of the training course, you will now officiate in a minimum of 5 games of football. These games of football (9V9 or 11v11), will be completed through our Academies or Chartered Standard Leagues providing a safe learning environment. Some of the games you will be supported by a FA Referee Mentor."

The course itself was excellent - its just the post course support that has been lacking. The above implied that we would be helped to get some games, but we haven't.

For me, this forum has been a fantastic resource and I know I shall be back with more questions - thank in advance.

One last thing: Paul, I didn't have to pay for my safeguarding workshop. I phoned them up and said I was doing my ref's course and thought it was free (for refs.) They agreed and waived the fee. If you've already paid, perhaps phone them up & ask for your money back?
 
The other reason the fees went up dramatically is that the FA insisted that tutors were treated as employees and paid per hour. So CFAs went from just expenses for tutors to having to pay them a significant fee per hour plus expenses. You're looking at around 23 hours of tutor material, which adds around £450 to £700 to the cost of each course (assuming one instructor).

Additionally the new course now has practical elements, which means that not only do the CFAs have to book a venue for the classroom part of the course, they also need to book a suitable pitch. In somewhere like London you are looking at £100 per hour for a 3G floodlit pitch, so the costs all add up.

As has also been said by others, there were lots of "time wasters" doing the course and a huge amount of people never took up the whistle in anger. The main reason was youths doing the Duke of Edinburgh award, but people were also doing it towards their GCSEs and coaching badges. Also, the standard match fee down here is £35, so candidates will have recouped the fee by the time they have completed their first five qualifying games.
 
Thank you all, this thread has been very helpful and I honestly had no idea that their are 'time wasters' so understand a bit more why barriers have to be thrown up. It doesn't help someone in my situation though! I get the timing thing as well, but of course Somerset FA chose to do the training at this time in full knowledge that we would have to find 5 games.

Jeff thanks for the tip , I have emailed for the fee for the safeguarding course. I have also emailed the RDO again and made contact with my local club to see if there is any possibility in helping there.

This forum has been amazing - without it I would have felt well and truly stranded and may even have given up. Thank you all.
 
Paul Clarke said:
Thank you all, this thread has been very helpful and I honestly had no idea that their are 'time wasters' so understand a bit more why barriers have to be thrown up. It doesn't help someone in my situation though! I get the timing thing as well, but of course Somerset FA chose to do the training at this time in full knowledge that we would have to find 5 games.

Jeff thanks for the tip , I have emailed for the fee for the safeguarding course. I have also emailed the RDO again and made contact with my local club to see if there is any possibility in helping there.

This forum has been amazing - without it I would have felt well and truly stranded and may even have given up. Thank you all.
Click to expand...

keep us posted... also @Darius suggested joining local F/B group, which i did yesterday, and just browsing through some posts from the end of the season theres been a lot of activity with people seeking referees and/or assistants
 
Paul Clarke said:
So, rant alert .. but they don't make it easy for people to train to be a referee.

I am not connected to a club and have never been a player so perhaps I am an anomaly but here is what I have had to do so far...

1. Pay £10 and attend a pre - referees workshop
2. Pay £130 and attend the basic referees course
3. Pay £50 for a new kit and £20 for some boots
4. Pay £30 for a safeguarding workshop

The course finished weeks ago and I now have to get in 5 games. I have heard .. nothing. Not even an acknowledgement that something will happen. So, I guess its up to me to chase people up, beg and ask for 5 games.

I then need to go back and do an exam in the autumn.

After that, if I am still interested I guess I get to referee some games.

Do they have to make it so difficult? Will I get more support moving forward or is it a deliberate ploy to only keep the ultra keen people?
Click to expand...

Main thing that I noted from this post, and it's something I've encountered a fair bit. Are you aware that you have to go and join a league? Your County FA will not appoint you to games outside of their own county cup competitions. Leagues have their own referee appointment secretaries.
 
Ok so thanks to Jeff I have had the safeguarding course refunded. But absolutely nothing still so I will investigate the local leagues and still what I can come up with.
 
back when I did the course it was £100, 10 week course, one night per week, learning the LOTG and then a test at the end?

ahhh the good ol' days
 
Charlie Jones said:
@richard ramjane @Darius what kind of thing do you search on FB for the groups?
Click to expand...

@Charlie Jones i would add you to the group I joined but my phone has inconveniently died, thats the only access i have to FB so i'm eagerly awaiting a new one. That aside i think my search was simply 'Essex Referee' which yielded a few results and it was pretty obvious on inspection which one is the main group.
 
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