The Ref Stop

Should I start at Youth Level or Adult?

N

NatCole

New Member
Hi guys.

I'm still considering if I should give refereeing a go. I'm 18 years old and think it'd be something fun to do but it seems a lot of hassle. One of the main questions I'm having is whether I should do youth football or not. I've heard a few people saying things for both sides of it so I'm not sure. I'm reasonably shy at first with things but get more confident later usually.

What do you reckon I should start with if I do start?
 
The Ref Stop
As a ref who mainly does youth through choice I would cut my teeth in youth football, gain your confidence and learn how to manage a game, get more used to recognising fouls, get your positioning better. Then move on to OA. It is a big jump but if you can get senior youth games they will help with the step up. I know other people here disagree but I think there is a tendency to push newly qualified refs into OA too quickly espeicially if they are on the younger side.
 
Its like asking if you should learn to drive in a truck or an automatic sedan. Obviously youth football gives you an easier start to a refereeing journey, even easier in lower ages. Less likely to run into trouble and when you do get troublesome games in the future, you would be better equipped to deal with them. It would be less likely for you to think "this is not for me" and quit because you get a game that goes pear shaped.
On the other hand if you are a risk taker and you want to throw yourself into the deep end right from the start, there are some rewards too. You would have a shorter pathway to the top, the money is (presumably) better and you are challenged more both mentally and physically.

I am not sure if you would be given the choice of starting on adult games. In any case given your are very young, I'd suggest you start on youth and only move to adult if you find yourself breezing through them after ten or fifteen games.
 
Start with youth work your way up you’ve got 50 odd years infront of you with a whistle no rush.
 
When I started I went straight into adult open age football. If your not very confident dip your toe in with youth football and get confidence that way. As mentioned if you’re a risk taker do open ago and the promotion pathway is there for you.
 
I personally went straight in with adult football. However, I started in a league which I used to play in so I knew a lot of the players which made life easier to begin with
 
I did 3 or 4 months of youth football, before tackling the big lads
This path worked very well for me because i could practice the whole process before in relative calm before turning the volume up
At your age, there's no massive rush. Youth Football will give you some difficult games, but on a less frequent basis than OA
It's also helpful in the early days to have a good refsec regardless of which path you go down. You want to appointed to progressively more difficult fixtures at a sensible pace. I'm sure some refs have plunged straight into the deep end, however I'd advise against finding yourself in trouble with the wave machine turned on
 
QuaverRef said:
I personally went straight in with adult football. However, I started in a league which I used to play in so I knew a lot of the players which made life easier to begin with
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I tried that & then realised I didn’t know what offside was :D
 
Tino Best said:
As a ref who mainly does youth through choice I would cut my teeth in youth football, gain your confidence and learn how to manage a game, get more used to recognising fouls, get your positioning better. Then move on to OA. It is a big jump but if you can get senior youth games they will help with the step up. I know other people here disagree but I think there is a tendency to push newly qualified refs into OA too quickly espeicially if they are on the younger side.
Click to expand...
one said:
Its like asking if you should learn to drive in a truck or an automatic sedan. Obviously youth football gives you an easier start to a refereeing journey, even easier in lower ages. Less likely to run into trouble and when you do get troublesome games in the future, you would be better equipped to deal with them. It would be less likely for you to think "this is not for me" and quit because you get a game that goes pear shaped.
On the other hand if you are a risk taker and you want to throw yourself into the deep end right from the start, there are some rewards too. You would have a shorter pathway to the top, the money is (presumably) better and you are challenged more both mentally and physically.

I am not sure if you would be given the choice of starting on adult games. In any case given your are very young, I'd suggest you start on youth and only move to adult if you find yourself breezing through them after ten or fifteen games.
Click to expand...
Men in Black said:
Start with youth work your way up you’ve got 50 odd years infront of you with a whistle no rush.
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p4yno said:
When I started I went straight into adult open age football. If your not very confident dip your toe in with youth football and get confidence that way. As mentioned if you’re a risk taker do open ago and the promotion pathway is there for you.
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Sheffields Finest said:
Start with the small children and end with the big children, or Open Age as its better known as!! :angel:
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QuaverRef said:
I personally went straight in with adult football. However, I started in a league which I used to play in so I knew a lot of the players which made life easier to begin with
Click to expand...
Big Cat said:
I did 3 or 4 months of youth football, before tackling the big lads
This path worked very well for me because i could practice the whole process before in relative calm before turning the volume up
At your age, there's no massive rush. Youth Football will give you some difficult games, but on a less frequent basis than OA
It's also helpful in the early days to have a good refsec regardless of which path you go down. You want to appointed to progressively more difficult fixtures at a sensible pace. I'm sure some refs have plunged straight into the deep end, however I'd advise against finding yourself in trouble with the wave machine turned on
Click to expand...
Thanks for the help guys. I thought it would be easier to do youth but have seen a few complaining about parents etc. being worse than actual players. What age do you think would be good roughly?
 
NatCole said:
Thanks for the help guys. I thought it would be easier to do youth but have seen a few complaining about parents etc. being worse than actual players. What age do you think would be good roughly?
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Personally I went straight into U18 so that there were no adjustments to be made when I started reffing adults, same laws and expectations on the whole. No expectation to be over-lenient, 11-a-side, full size pitch and goals etc. The only main difference being the players.
 
The division in which the teams play is a better predictor of difficulty level than age group
Parents are just spectators, so not your concern unless Safeguarding is a factor
Handling players (of different age groups and ability levels) and coping with managers and spectators is all part of the endless learning curve. Most important imo; look the part and learn quickly to act the part
 
I did a full season of youth before open age. 1 thing that stands out to me is that open age can be less forgiving than youth. However parents can be a pain so there are pros and cons.
Personally I'd reccomend tackling a few youth games 1st.
 
Mintyref said:
A short one, obviously........😇
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Nah I’m starting from the very beginning Minty how I escaped the slums of West London to become the referee i am today.

Sheffs gonna write it for me.
 
Men in Black said:
Nah I’m starting from the very beginning Minty how I escaped the slums of West London to become the referee i am today.

Sheffs gonna write it for me.
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It'll have lots of chapters about your early life......your refereeing career and knowledge will probably be just a teeny footnote..........😁
 
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