The Ref Stop

Ref equipments

Donate to RefChat

Help keep RefChat running, any donation would be appreciated

C

cancan

Member
Level 7 Referee
So I was on uni ground and I was able to watch a cricket game before my kickoff. It was just a lower division cricket game not many divisions and team anyways. But I see 2 official with proper prem league quality coms kit and stuff. At that moment I was so jealous we can’t even use sprays which I still found it so pointless. So just want to start a debate why do we have restrictions when other sports don’t- is it beneficial-
 
The Ref Stop
cancan said:
So I was on uni ground and I was able to watch a cricket game before my kickoff. It was just a lower division cricket game not many divisions and team anyways. But I see 2 official with proper prem league quality coms kit and stuff. At that moment I was so jealous we can’t even use sprays which I still found it so pointless. So just want to start a debate why do we have restrictions when other sports don’t- is it beneficial-
Click to expand...
Certainly not in England! Club appointed umpires and never seen comms!

I've seen it at club level hockey though.

I think it's partly due to trying to keep a level playing field (all officials with the same kit). Some games might be officiated differently (and incorrectly without training). There's also costs involved which could give those who can afford it an advantage.

Added to the fact there's a general avoidance of change if at all possible
 
es1 said:
Certainly not in England! Club appointed umpires and never seen comms!

I've seen it at club level hockey though.

I think it's partly due to trying to keep a level playing field (all officials with the same kit). Some games might be officiated differently (and incorrectly without training). There's also costs involved which could give those who can afford it an advantage.

Added to the fact there's a general avoidance of change if at all possible
Click to expand...
In England Hull to be precise
 
  • Wow
Reactions: es1
ChasObserverRefDeveloper said:
The University games are umpired by people on the ECB pathway, so some may have comms kits.
The cost of vanishing spray is not something that most grassroots referees would welcome, given the other pressures on finances, and adds minimal value - it's an unnecessary gimmick at local level, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Making it mandatory doesn’t make sense you are right but the ones with the money should be allowed to do it. If I have a money I want to use it
 
Also stops you from looking like a bit of a jobs worth, I would back it being introduced at step 3/4 if funding became available but never any lower than that, partially due to the training of level 7/6/5 referees to run the line with comms.
 
Using Comms for football is not just stick headset on and go. Comms needs to be structured and add value to the overall game management.
cancan said:
Making it mandatory doesn’t make sense you are right but the ones with the money should be allowed to do it. If I have a money I want to use it
Click to expand...
This creates an unfair playing field not only for referees but for clubs as well as identical incidents in a games with and without comms may result in a different outcome.

Getting on in the refereeing world should be not be a battle between the haves and the have nots.
 
JamesL said:
Using Comms for football is not just stick headset on and go. Comms needs to be structured and add value to the overall game management.

This creates an unfair playing field not only for referees but for clubs as well as identical incidents in a games with and without comms may result in a different outcome.

Getting on in the refereeing world should be not be a battle between the haves and the have nots.
Click to expand...
Completely agree, it creates an unfair playing field and I always use this example. A team should be given a clear penalty which the referee misses, it is far side to the active AR so he can't credibly come in to assist. The next week the same team are involved in exactly the same challenge which the referee again misses only this time they are the defending team. This time the officials are wearing comms so the AR can advise the referee that he's missed a clear foul without anyone doubting his credibility.

And then of course you have the referees themselves, why should one referee have a better chance of getting promoted because he can afford a comms kit? Especially at L4 and above where they are competing for places in a merit table. Referee A gets pinged for an incorrect KMD because he misses a penalty on the far side to the AR, referee B misses exactly the same challenge in a different game but advice from the AR over comms allows his to avoid the incorrect KMD. It just wouldn't be fair.
 
Wouldn't be surprised if comms get passed down to L3s to use on Step 3/4 games at some point in the future, but I doubt it'll be any time soon. At least The FA would be able to provide the training to L4s when they're promoted.

As for officials at lower levels being able to buy their own - absolutely not. At Steps 5 and 6 you could have a first year L4 who's never even had neutral assistants before but mummy and daddy have bought them a comms kit as a present, with two 16 year old L7s running their first ever lines and barely know which end of the flag to hold, let alone what to say over the comms and when to say it.
 
As someone who could afford to buy comms if I wanted - I agree they shouldn't be allowed at lower levels! I'm lucky enough to nearly always have NARs now, and frankly I don't want comms. It gives me an unfair advantage, and to be perfectly honest if I miss a KMD I need to learn from it.

Over time you would become reliant on comms and then you may get very lazy, and ultimately miss more KMDs. Also, it might just be me, but I have enough to think about as it is, never mind with an extra 2 voices in my ear. Most things that comms can be used for can also be solved with things we already have (voices and flags).

And as for vanishing spray - I was on the line for a L5 going for L4 in a Step 7 game last season. He used spray, and to be honest it looked ridiculous considering there were about 40 people there even if you include the players and officials!

And the equipment was only used in the cricket game because uni cricket is now officiated by Level 2 or 3 umpires I believe, so they couldn't be much closer to TV games in The Hundred if they aren't already on them. Also as a Level 5 umpire going for 4 - I can assure you that equipment is not being seen anywhere near my games outside of the ECB Premier Leagues etc. Every other sport is the same as football in that it won't be used at low level games.
 
Comms in cricket at this level are most likely to be a walkie talkie between the scorer and the umpire. I play very average village cricket and these are used - just makes communicating with the scorer easier.
 
Leave equipment to those who are trained to use it. Last thing I’d want while under pressure to make a split-second decision is someone gabbling on over a mic when their written communications are often unintelligible.
 
Archer said:
Leave equipment to those who are trained to use it. Last thing I’d want while under pressure to make a split-second decision is someone gabbling on over a mic when their written communications are often unintelligible.
Click to expand...
“Hope the sarnies are better than last time!” Says the assistant over comms!
 
Archer said:
Leave equipment to those who are trained to use it. Last thing I’d want while under pressure to make a split-second decision is someone gabbling on over a mic when their written communications are often unintelligible.
Click to expand...
H
 
RustyRef said:
Completely agree, it creates an unfair playing field and I always use this example. A team should be given a clear penalty which the referee misses, it is far side to the active AR so he can't credibly come in to assist. The next week the same team are involved in exactly the same challenge which the referee again misses only this time they are the defending team. This time the officials are wearing comms so the AR can advise the referee that he's missed a clear foul without anyone doubting his credibility.
Click to expand...
while I agree they are unnecessary at lower levels and are not good for proper skill development, I think the “unfair playing field” argument is a complete red herring. Teams are equally likely to benefit from the advantages comms provide—though the odds of them making a difference is pretty small. There is far, far more variance in impact from who the individual refs and ARs are than from any difference something like coms make.
 
socal lurker said:
while I agree they are unnecessary at lower levels and are not good for proper skill development, I think the “unfair playing field” argument is a complete red herring. Teams are equally likely to benefit from the advantages comms provide—though the odds of them making a difference is pretty small. There is far, far more variance in impact from who the individual refs and ARs are than from any difference something like coms make.
Click to expand...
Probably is pretty small, but still isn't a level playing field. If I was a coach I'd be pretty miffed if I didn't get a penalty one week because there were no comms and then had one against me the week after because there were comms. I'd be asking the question why one set of match officials had comms when the other didn't.

It also makes the officials stand out like a sore thumb at lower levels. I saw a team of three waiting outside the changing rooms for the teams to emerge, one of the captains came out took one look at them and quipped "I'd like a big mac, fries and a milkshake please". They clearly didn't know what they were doing with them, they weren't official sets and rather something they'd bought of eBay, and I don't think it helped their game in the slightest.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top