FREE BASIC REFEREES COURSE for Duchy and Trelawny Leagues

[Dave Deacon]

Unfortunately the Referees Course planned for this weekend has had to be postponed due to low numbers. They are therefore re-advertising to run the course at the end of March

 

FUNDING SECURES FREE BASIC REFEREES COURSE ANNOUNCED

SATURDAY JUNIOR STATUS ADULT LEAGUE REFEREES REQUIRED

Cornwall County FA have secured funding for a Basic Referees Course to support Grassroots Saturday Football. The Course is targeted at candidates who wish to referee in the Trelawny and/or Duchy League (s) regularly on Saturday afternoons.

The Course Cost, normally £95, is being funded subject to the Terms & Conditions of the Course. A charge of £45 is being levied to secure a place on the course; the £45 will provide the candidate with a Referees Kit, Badge, Notebook & Whistle (all provided at a substantially discounted rate)

The Course dates are (held at the CCFA Offices, Bodmin):

 

Wednesday 11^th March  6.30pm to 9.30pm Safeguarding Children Workshop (at the Sir Ben Ainslee Centre, Truro School, Truro)

Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th March.  9.00am to 5.00pm each day

Sunday 12th April – Evaluation 9.00 to 12.30pm

Match Days (Module 4 – 5 Games): 4^th, 11^th, 18th, 25^th April & 2^nd May (It is important if you are unable to referee on any of the match dates that you agree a suitable alternative with the Referee Development Officer prior to booking a place on the course.)

 

As this course is sponsored the £45 charge (for match kit & accessories) is NOT refundable*.

*The £45 Charge will be repaid by the respective league upon completion of 10 Games for the league.

 

For further information on these courses please contact:

Ray Brown, Referee Development Officer, on 01208 262983 (Office), 07846 270967 (Mobile) or ray.brown@cornwallfa.com

 

If you wish to book a place on these courses (closing date 16^th February) please send full payment to the undersigned (made payable to Cornwall FA Ltd) with the details below completed:

Name of Candidate:

Address:

 

Date of Birth:

Telephone Number (Home)

Telephone Number (Mobile)

Email Address:

Kit Size:

League to Officiate in:

[JacobEnglefield]

Let's hope we get a few people taking up this offer. More referees are required in Cornwall to keep Junior Football going at a healthy level.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

I would have done it if I was younger.

[MOUNTAINEER]

"WHY NOT" try a different recruitment campaign?

 

Teams of four

 

Young men may be encouraged if they weren't exposed as lone figures week in week out, kept local to avoid excessive travel they could alternate as a team, one experienced player with three learners, as experience grows they too could become the experienced head in their own team of new boys, it may not be as daft as it first appears, done away with is the loneliness of the referee.

 

Some may say, who pays for this, as things are there is one person getting travel expenses but as a local team of four they could share transport, do away with biased club assistants, with thought the team of four could include a couple of young teenagers, as things stand there is little incentive for lone rangers turning up week in week out only to experience abuse, I think marketed properly it could become an attractive experiment.

 

To start with recruitment may be slow but being part of a group could give them that feel good factor, I remember stepping in to run the line in an important game at the last minute, the referee was rated the best in Buckinghamshire, I put everything into my performance in my quest to get it right, I really enjoyed it, after the final whistle the referee said to me "I wish you could be my linesman every week".

 

There are games I see in local villages where there is more swearing than football, one day this referee turned up, he was old and I mean old, the teams were warming up and he blasted his whistle and ORDERED both teams to stand around the centre circle, I thought it was going to be a minutes silence, no listen to me he said, if I wasn't here you wouldn't have a game, OK I'm not going to keep up with you but if you play to my whistle you can enjoy your game, oh he added and no swearing. I was fascinated that this old geezer hardly left the centre circle, controlled the game and I couldn't remember a swear word, it was a work of art, he also had the art of talking to players in passing if he thought they were a bit heavy into the tackle.

 

I would be interested in peoples thoughts on my MAD idea - there are people who may not be able to play the game but good enough to be part of it in other ways.

[JacobEnglefield]

I think it's a good idea. It would help with the confidence of younger officials if they had people there to support and help them on a regular basis. Whether it would work or not is a different matter. I'd like to hear other opinions on this.

[B Manning]

Ivor, are you saying that we should appoint 4 officials to each match or am I misreading your post?.

[JacobEnglefield]

Well there blatantly isn't enough to do that. But if you could encourage potential officials to come forwards in groups of three or fours then at least they might be more comfortbale knowing they have people there to support them, back them and help them through those games that end up being difficult. Whereas a lot of refs can be on their own, be it young and old, then they wouldn't be able to defend themselves, and there are people out there who can become threatening.

[MOUNTAINEER]

I shall attempt to answer everyone in one posting,  I am looking to the future, change cannot take place overnight, I can only assume some are put off by the intimidating atmosphere they may find themselves in when alone, some clubs may not help when some of their club linesmen may cheat and spectators unfriendly, the poor referee is the easy target, I know because many have been the butt of some of my comments, unfortunately it goes with the job. I agree it shouldn't.

 

The decline in numbers continues so current recruitment techniques are not working, I know the courses mentioned on this forum is for junior positions but now more than ever for some it can be an occupation, perhaps teaching pupils how to become sports officials could form part of the school curriculum.  sports masters in our schools could judge interest, even encourage those showing an interest.

 

As it stands we have one referee, others who think about joining them more than likely decide no and it is being a lone body entering the lions den that puts them off. My idea would be to publicise refereeing with a slogan maybe "join our teams of referees" each football club could do so in their programme and local press on their sports pages.. If it happened clubs could welcome the refereeing teams in a more friendly nature than we see now knowing this new initiative is for the good of the game. Every new suggestion made has a big IF - with this it is IF there is a response.

 

When I mentioned a team of four the leader could be an established current referee, along side him/her could possibly be an adult joining for the first time, the other two could be teenagers even those still in education. It's all about being part of something, Initially we are talking lower leagues but there is a potential to go higher in time. To stimulate them each four could be given a name and have a league table based on marks given to them by the teams they officiated.

 

Many years ago I played cricket, I was an opening bat and a bowler, I had a good spell bowling taking 6 wickets for 9 runs, our captain came to me and said as you have had a good bowl and we don't need many runs to win do you mind letting the others have a bat so off we went, until the wickets started to fall, you had better go in he said, the batsmen had crossed, my fellow batsman came to me and said "you terrify me with those silly runs" I agreed no silly runs the ball was bowled and he blocked it in the block hole, one run I shouted and ran with overthrows we got 3 runs something I was known for doing, I knew that man was useless playing football and his cricket not much better, a few months later I went to Highbury for Arsenal v Spurs and this not very good at sport man was the linesman, just goes to show we can all slot in somewhere.

 

I THINK FOOTBALL GENERALLY NEEDS TO MAKE REFEREES FEEL THEY ARE PART OF OUR GAME

 

Yes Mr Manning FOUR but from an area of society possibly not explored in depth before, maybe a number of companies or sports fans would sponsor the kits for the younger members, it would need be viewed as building from the bottom up. A progression up the leagues could be the reward for improvement in performance, existing referees may get a boost seeing their apprentices improve whilst strengthening the foundations of what is vital for our game.

[B Manning]

Personally I thnk 4 officials to 1 game is totally impractical, the cost to the clubs alone would quadruple and that's not taking into account any traveling. When I started I was thrown in at the deep end on my own and it never did me any harm, it's all part of the learning curve so to speak and ends up with that word experience.

[MOUNTAINEER]

Mr Manning, I mentioned earlier about local referee groups where they travel together so referee expenses would be the same for 4 as it would be for 1, we are talking about participation in sport where people can enjoy what interests them most. It is sad that every time sport is mentioned now those taking part require monetary reward even when taking part at the lower level. I am talking about a situation where the opportunity is there to learn from those with a little bit more experience being a part of a team whilst starting out. I thought alright have groups of 3 but 4 would be better, that way one carrying an injury could do the 4th official spot or cover for any of the team not available.

 

Without trying new ideas we do not know how many would like to try refereeing, for anyone attempting it alone would be frightening, reading the first post here I get the impression these starter classes would be on a small scale, spreading the word emphasising you won't be alone could be a better way to go.

 

My suggestions are NOT hard and fast means of doing things, just an idea to be considered to stimulate interest and pave the way to encourage others to participate in an important part of the game. The earlier people become officials the more likely some of them can make it to the top level if ambition is there to drive them.

 

At a local level I would sponsor the £45 referee kit for two people (£90), if notification of schemes asked for sponsors who knows how many people would come forward, as things stand now as a family we have made donations/sponsorship available to 5 clubs, 1 in the Football League and 4 in the Southern League, I'm a very small cog in a large pond, imagine what could happen if through discussion the football authorities tapped into larger means for sponsors,

 

It has been accepted there is a national shortage of officials, where is the County FA that goes to the Football Association with an idea, OK as crazy as mine but something to discuss, the sports channels could be involved, national companies recruited for support, sell the beauty of being the man in the middle to the public, where is Football's first "Billy Graham" ?

 

Enthusiasm for the job that at this time not many want., I wish I was 60 years younger, I would have a go AS PART OF A TEAM (as an individual - NO).

 

Mr Manning, I say this in the nicest possible way, nothing is TOTALLY IMPRACTICAL Success stems from trial and error.

Oh and a compliment, when I placed my first post, I thought if anyone showed an interest in it's content it would be you, I was right to have faith in you, thank you for your interest, if we agree or disagree doesn't matter but others may like to comment on your TOTALLY conclusion, this old duffer has never taken no for an answer when taking on a challenge . 

[Guest]

It's a shame the CCFA or the FA can't implement the players who regularly receive cards for dissent be made to attend the course before they can play again. A knowledge of the laws (not rules!) might help cut out the negativity in the game.