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Finding Leagues &
Competitions
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How does a
newly-qualified referee get appointed to games once he or she has
acquired all the necessary kit and equipment?
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The first thing to
realise is that the onus is on the referee to approach
leagues and competitions: if he or she does not take the
initiative and make an approach, then nobody will contact
him or her with offers of games.
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serious shortage of referees at grass roots level and
therefore plenty of clubs are looking for officials.
Accordingly, it should not be difficult to find a game once
the nettle has been grasped and an approach has been made.
There are various ways to contact leagues and competitions,
including:- |
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often the referee will have played
in or been connected in some way with a league and therefore
be familiar with it; |
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instructors, examiners, mentors,
fellow referees and former referees etc. will always happily
recommend suitable leagues and competitions: advice is
freely available from colleagues, including at meetings of
referees’ societies, etc.; |
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the London FA Handbook and
Directory contains a full list of all leagues and
competitions affiliated to it, together with the contact
details of their Referees’ Secretaries; |
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going along to a local ground to
see whether any games are uncovered. |
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POTENTIAL PROBLEMS |
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There are some 150
competitions affiliated to London FA and therefore it can be
difficult to decide where to start. |
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Some leagues' teams are more
sporting than others and some leagues are better run than others.
There will also will differences in sportsmanship and
organisational skills between the teams in each league. |
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Even officials at the
highest levels make mistakes: they are human, believe it or not! A
beginner will inevitably make more mistakes. Novel challenges will
also be encountered off the field in an official’s early games:
what happens if a team turns up late, or if there is no match
ball, etc? |
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Is it wise for someone to
start off with two teams renowned for their physical approach and
dislike for officials, or with one side fighting for promotion
against another struggling against relegation, or with the top two
teams playing a cup semi-final? |
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Bad experiences in early
games often cause newly qualified officials to give up refereeing.
So what can be done to reduce the risk of this happening? |
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Ideally, a referees first
games should involve teams who make allowances for the referee’s
lack of experience and who do not add to any problems with their
own off-field administrative inefficiency. Is it not a good idea
to start with two mid-table teams noted for their sportsmanship,
efficiency and respect for authority, even if they play in a low
division and there are games in higher divisions which are also
without a referee? |
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A NEW APPROACH |
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London FA invited all
leagues and competitions affiliated to it to apply to participate
in a scheme designed to start newly qualified officials off on
suitable games. The list of applicants to participate in the
scheme was whittled down to a list of nine leagues and
competitions, which piloted it. Four more competitions
were subsequently invited to join the pilot scheme. In all cases,
the leagues have promised to liaise closely with the LFA about the
referee’s performance and to provide appropriate support for him
or her. A good Referees’ Secretary will know the teams in
his or her competition and will have a fairly good idea which
matches are suitable for the novice referee: the LFA is confident
that the Referees’ Secretaries of the participants meet this
description and commends the scheme to all new referees. If you
would like to use the scheme to find a good league on which to
start your refereeing, Please fill in the form at the end of this
page. |
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If the pilot scheme proves
to be a success, it is anticipated that all other affiliated
leagues and competitions will be invited to join it if they
provide the same level of support as the present participants. |
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SOME RADICAL IDEAS |
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The LFA has close
relationships with the professional football clubs in the
London
area, all of which run academies for young players from the age of
under nine upwards. For the younger age groups (from under nine to
under sixteen), there are normally two breaks in a game rather
than one, so that matches have “three thirds” rather than two
halves. The clubs do not tolerate thuggish play and rowdy
parents/supporters are not allowed to go to the games. |
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This "sanitised"
atmosphere enables new referees of all ages to learn from their
mistakes in early games without much of the pressure that is
normally associated with football. |
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Novel approaches can also be
taken to officiating: how about watching someone else referee the
first third, then you can act as an assistant referee during the
second third, with you refereeing the last third, discussions on
the game taking place with the other officials during the two
breaks? |
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Or how about
"shadowing" another official, running behind him or her
as he or she acts either as referee or as assistant referee for
one or more of the thirds? If that goes well, how about having a
more experienced colleague “shadowing” you as you act either
as assistant referee or as referee for one or more of the thirds? |
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Much can be learned about
officials' positioning, movement and decision making by the
innovative approaches implemented at some of the academies. Once
confidence and practical refereeing skills have been gained at the
academies, a referee can graduate to the “real world” of
competitive league soccer at grass roots level. Please fill
in the form, below, if you are interested in starting off your
refereeing at the academy of one of our professional clubs... |
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