A&H

Taking a break

zarathustra

RefChat Addict
I had been intending to start my season in October, but have had to take the decision to take a break for the season.

Just got too much on, 4 month old baby, full time employment and starting a degree with the OU meant something had to give, and in this case refereeing comes bottom of the pile.

My aim is too come back next season, and just take it easy before thinking about promotion again. But I'll still be around here to disagree with people.

For those who have taken breaks in the past, how did you find it coming back after a year or so?
 
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I took five years out due to health issues.

Your fitness nose-dives, so if you can squeeze it in, the one thing I'd advise you to do is maintain your gym/running schedule if you can. Nothing worse than getting back on the field and feeling miles out of it. Obviously, it's only a year in your case, so it won't be too bad, but even so!

The break does wonders for your mental health though, I felt so refreshed from not having players or coaches on my back every other day/week, so going back in I had a clear head and that helped massively. Did take a few games to get my eye in for foul detection etc, but again, length of the break was longer so...

Anyway, enjoy the break. :)
 
I took a 20 year break and it was only coming back to ref through my son that I realised how much I like it. Keep fit and active and keep up with the lotg. Sounds like you've swopped one type of pressure for another.
 
I retired for 15 months and regretted it initially as the level of game I got when I returned wasn't as good. I then refereed the way I wanted to do it, traded on my former reputation and enjoyed my games much, much more. If I'd stayed in the game, I'd have gotten frustrated due to recurring injuries. As it is, I'm loving my football and nothing phases me.
 
Thanks all.

It's interesting to hear other people's experiences.

Keeping my fitness up is something I will be doing, I can still fit in a couple of karate sessions a week and some runs in the evening.

The main problem I felt with refereeing is the time it takes up, and when time is in such short supply losing half a day to refereeing just wasn't sustainable.
 
I had been intending to start my season in October, but have had to take the decision to take a break for the season.

Just got too much on, 4 month old baby, full time employment and starting a degree with the OU meant something had to give, and in this case refereeing comes bottom of the pile.

My aim is too come back next season, and just take it easy before thinking about promotion again. But I'll still be around here to disagree with people.

For those who have taken breaks in the past, how did you find it coming back after a year or so?
I took two years out of all sport - work hours didn't match and there was a lot happening in general.
Moved cities and decided to attend a pre-season briefing before getting back into it. First appointments were at the top local level, which is largely equivalent to the top regional teams.

The fitness was a big issue, even worse than normal after a summer break. Make sure to keep up a baseline if you can.

The first decisions I had to make were pretty big ones - major penalty and goal scored in the first minute, basically. I thought I had it sussed but still checked with the colleagues to make sure, and it shook the confidence (both theirs and mine) for a while. Even watching TV matches and playing the "what would I give?" game would make that easier though.

Last thing is to keep up with changes in law and SOP where possible. I had done this fairly well, so I turned out better informed of changes and decision-making process than several others, which is probably why I returned so high up, but it should be done regardless of where you want to be.
 
I had been intending to start my season in October, but have had to take the decision to take a break for the season.

Just got too much on, 4 month old baby, full time employment and starting a degree with the OU meant something had to give, and in this case refereeing comes bottom of the pile.

My aim is too come back next season, and just take it easy before thinking about promotion again. But I'll still be around here to disagree with people.

For those who have taken breaks in the past, how did you find it coming back after a year or so?
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I had been intending to start my season in October, but have had to take the decision to take a break for the season.

Just got too much on, 4 month old baby, full time employment and starting a degree with the OU meant something had to give, and in this case refereeing comes bottom of the pile.

My aim is too come back next season, and just take it easy before thinking about promotion again. But I'll still be around here to disagree with people.

For those who have taken breaks in the past, how did you find it coming back after a year or so?

The one decison I always regret is quiting refereeing. Yes, fitness nose-drived (and I added 4 stone in 2 years....)

Keep involved somehow, even if one match a month.
 
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