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Refereeing in foreign tournaments

joe cunningham

joe cunningham

Well-Known Member
Level 4 Referee
Hi all,

Thinking of maybe doing one of the tournaments on tournaments abroad for next year after I leave school. Do you have to be selected to go to these by your CFA or can you just go off your own back?

Also, if anyone has been, would you say it's a good experience?
 
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B

Brian Hamilton

RefChat Addict
Observer/Tutor
You have to apply to referee at one of their tournaments. You can travel as an independent but you tend to get more and better games if you're part of a party from a recognised organisation, such as a Referees Association or County FA.

Either way, you need international clearance to referee outside of England.

As for experience, you will probably gain much from working with a team of three in almost every game and from the feedback provided by the observers. It can accelerate your development and make a massive difference to your profile and ability on your return home. It can however also be a little daunting if you do not have any previous experience of tournament refereeing, especially the politics, organisation, communication of appointments which can be late, games over run, meaning mealtime are missed, then there's the temptation of being sucked into the party approach adopted by some attendees, who treat the "tour" as their summer holiday rather than a development opportunity.

Some of their tournaments are already full for next summer, so if you're going to go, apply soon. If you know anyone who had travelled to one before, you may want them to put in a good word for you so you get accepted.

Sorry I should have mentioned I travelled once as a coach/referee and once as an observers to their tournaments. Also my RA and County have been to their tournaments in each of the last 5 years.

You need to talk to Chris Kavanagh, Dave Addison and Brian Reilly for more info as they have also attended a number of their tournaments
 
joe cunningham

joe cunningham

Well-Known Member
Level 4 Referee
Brian Hamilton said:
You have to apply to referee at one of their tournaments. You can travel as an independent but you tend to get more and better games if you're part of a party from a recognised organisation, such as a Referees Association or County FA.

Either way, you need international clearance to referee outside of England.

As for experience, you will probably gain much from working with a team of three in almost every game and from the feedback provided by the observers. It can accelerate your development and make a massive difference to your profile and ability on your return home. It can however also be a little daunting if you do not have any previous experience of tournament refereeing, especially the politics, organisation, communication of appointments which can be late, games over run, meaning mealtime are missed, then there's the temptation of being sucked into the party approach adopted by some attendees, who treat the "tour" as their summer holiday rather than a development opportunity.

Some of their tournaments are already full for next summer, so if you're going to go, apply soon. If you know anyone who had travelled to one before, you may want them to put in a good word for you so you get accepted.
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Cheers Brian,

Thanks for the advice!!
 
M

Middleman

New Member
Level 4 Referee
Hi Joe,

I was lucky enough to go along to the Paris World Cup this July with Manchester FA and can't speak highly enough of the experience. It's a wonderful opportunity to test yourself with a number of different challenges, and you'll be somewhat protected from the politics side of things that Brian mentions above. Best of all, you'll get extended exposure to observers and ref coaches who will help you analyse your own game. You will undoubtedly come back a better referee and I know for a fact that some of the younger refs benefited from it on a personal level. Plus, I was with a super group of refs who supported each other and were great fun. It's hard work and a high level of professionalism is expected, but we had a fantastic time on and off the pitch.

There was a selection process, involving a presentation and a Q&A session, although if memory serves, the minimum age was 18, so it might be one for the future for you. In any case, definitely follow Brian's advice above and get in touch with the folk at Manchester FA and register your interest. They'll be able to give you more info and advice.

I imagine the experience is very different if you go on your own as an independent ref, and there are things that I would be wary of, but also many opportunities to be had.

Also, feel free to PM me if you have any more questions about the process or the experience. I'll be happy to share.
 
pankaye

pankaye

Well-Known Member
Level 6 Referee
i went to ibercup Scandinavia and i had a fantastic time. some very challenging games which will enhance your abilities. although there was very little in terms of observations/assessments it was great to work in teams of three or four and to receive feedback. one of the guys i worked with is a dutch national league referee and the other was equivalent to level 4 from Scotland. fantastic experience
 
Y

youwhatref?!

Member
joe cunningham said:
I've been looking on the tournaments abroad website and when I filled in the application to apply, it didn't have an option for a level 7 :confused:
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Just applied for one on there! If you look though, it has it's own levels. Like Level 6 was AR only, Level 5 was Local Football (Kids), Level 4 was Local Football (Adults). So as far as I am aware, you just select the level in accordance to yours. Bare in mind that the level criteria is different in each county hence that layout I'm guessing.
 
joe cunningham

joe cunningham

Well-Known Member
Level 4 Referee
youwhatref?! said:
Just applied for one on there! If you look though, it has it's own levels. Like Level 6 was AR only, Level 5 was Local Football (Kids), Level 4 was Local Football (Adults). So as far as I am aware, you just select the level in accordance to yours. Bare in mind that the level criteria is different in each county hence that layout I'm guessing.
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Nice one, thanks. Which one have you applied for?
 
B

Brian Hamilton

RefChat Addict
Observer/Tutor
The levels on the Tournaments Abroad website are their own levels and do not necessarily correspond to English FA levels. This is because at a typical tournament they have referees from more than 25 countries. To be honest some of the Level 5 referees from places like Belgium and Netherlands would look comfortable at Contrib in our country., but only referee U21 in their own country.

If you want more information on what to expect at Paris, read this which is my report on the 2016 competition. I have been pre-selected as an observer for Paris next year but if I do decide to go abroad next year it will be Lisbon.

http://www.refchat.co.uk/threads/paris-world-cup-july-4-9-2016.8019/
 
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joe cunningham

joe cunningham

Well-Known Member
Level 4 Referee
Brian Hamilton said:
The levels on the Tournaments Abroad website are their own levels and do not necessarily correspond to English FA levels. This is because at a typical tournament they have referees from more than 25 countries. To be honest some of the Level 5 referees from places like Belgium and Netherlands would look comfortable at Contrib in our country., but only referee U21 in their own country.

If you want more information on what to expect at Paris, read this which is my report on the 2016 competition. I have pre-selected as an observer for Paris next year but if I do decide to go abroad next year it will be Lisbon.

http://www.refchat.co.uk/threads/paris-world-cup-july-4-9-2016.8019/
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Thanks for that Brian!
 
Mike

Mike

RefChat Addict
Level 7 Referee
Yeah they've changed their systems for next year so that everyone has an assigned 'Tournaments Abroad Referee Level' to ensure that refs from all over the world get given a fair grading. You can then accumulate some sort of loyalty point scheme or something which I don't really understand...

Went to Estoril last year but might not this year as they've changed their terms to say English refs must be at least Level 6 to do 11-a-side and promotion is logistically impossible for me at the moment :(
 
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