Tag: referee

The long weekend: Strong start, weak knee…

This weekend I have been appointed to three games. Two down, one to go, and things are going really well. I’m determined to keep up the momentum!

The first game was as Assistant Referee on the Combined Counties Football League. This was my first competitive game on this league this season (the others I have posted about recently have been pre-season friendlies). This was one of those occasions where the referee team has just totally gelled: Good bonding, all the decisions correct and great communication. I enjoyed every second. Not bad at all considering it was a local derby! There was the perhaps inevitable mass confrontation to take care of, of course…

It really helps when everyone on the team has the right, positive attitude: To do a professional job and have fun at the same time. Sometimes I have worked on teams where one member has been, well, a little bitter and twisted and it does bring the team down a little.

Today I had a pre-season friendly on another league as the man in the middle. This was also a fantastic game, helped by the fact that both teams genuinely treated it like a friendly! It was a joy to referee and helped by the fact that I really felt on form: Right on top of fouls etc and getting the tight calls right each time. Was very pleased to hear a spectator comment, “That’s the best referee I have seen round here”. That will keep my ego swollen for a few hours at least…

It’s not the only thing which is swollen: My right knee is feeling tender and I had to ice it after the game. It feels sore on the inside so not quite sure what it is. I hurt my Achilles last season from sprint ‘take-off’ and now I’ve hurt my knee from the sudden deceleration from sprinting when running the line! I need to be careful.

One more game to go (Assistant again) to polish off the weekend: Let’s make it a great finish!

Feeling the positivity of an evening at Fratton Park

I was privileged recently to attend Pompey playing Birmingham at Fratton Park. This was the league game within days of their victory over the same team in the FA cup. Naturally, Birmingham had a score to settle…

Privileged for several reasons! As I am gainfully employed under the subtext of ‘Head Geek’ for the team’s shirt sponsor I went along under corporate hospitality. Even before the match began, the enthusiasm and drive of pretty much everyone from the club I had contact with was evident. It was clear they genuinely really cared for what they were doing and there wasn’t a detectable hint of worry. Sadly, just the following day, more than 80 employees of the club were made redundant.

Jamie O'Hara and I

The match itself was entertaining although Pompey clearly were not at their best. Birmingham had also clearly learned from the loss at the previous weekend and their back four were particularly tight. Final score: 1-2. Jamie O’Hara was the clear outstanding player to me, playing with real passion as well. We nominated him for the Partners’ Lounge Man of the Match. He was a nice guy in person as well, especially since I arrived late back from the dressing room area to see him.

Why was I in the dressing room area? Well, I am a qualified football referee myself but not anywhere near Premiership level at this point! I queried via our hosts whether it would be possible to meet the referee team after the match. I knew this would depend on a lot of variables but in particular whether they had a ‘good game’ or not. If any managers were furiously trying to beat their door down it would be particularly unlikely to happen…

Thankfully, they DID have a good game and I was taken down post-match. This meant waiting in the dressing room corridor for five minutes so I got to see the players milling about, and also to talk to the Match Assessor. So far the occurring theme in this entry is just how positive and nice everyone was and it applies here as well! The Assessor is there to report on the referee team’s performance and he took me in to see them.

Mike Jones, Mike Mullarkey, Andy D'Urso, Me, Darren Cann

He jokingly introduced me as being from the Surrey FA (well, this is technically true…) and there to conduct the assessment but there was no way I could keep that pretense up. I got to have a chat with the team and up close it really did strike me just how physically fit they were. This should hardly be of a surprise but I guess you only really ‘see’ it up close. During the game I thought Mike Jones was in his twenties: It was hard to believe that he is really 42. His two assistants typically work with Howard Webb and also featured in the Les Arbitres documentary, so to meet them as well was a particular thrill!

Really, seeing the fitness level on display has served to energise my own efforts in that area. I aim to be professional in all my dealings as a referee and projecting an appropriate level of fitness is a big part of that. After all, it’s a demonstration of making the effort.

I was even gifted some neat little Premier League lapel badges which I will be sporting on future match appointments until I am ordered to take them off 😉

So much positivity in one evening: From the club, the players (especially Mr O’Hara) and the referee team (who had clearly enjoyed the match as well). If I can take just an ounce of that and apply it to my own life then great things are bound to happen…

First steps in the spirit of judo

I have blogged before about the Obi tournaments that we run every so often. These are held on the same days as internal club gradings so it is a good way of getting everyone there.

The emphasis is on FUN which matches up quite nicely with FUNdamentals as specified in the BJA Long Term Athlete Development plan (LTAD). Although some material I have refers to that with ‘Player’ (LTPD) instead, so it remains to be seen what the correct version is this week.

FUNdamentals – (male 6-10, female 6-10 years) this stage should be structured and FUN with the emphasis on developing basic movement literacy and fundamental movement skills.

Some hold the view that this age is too young for any form of competition, be it events like ours or the ‘Mini Mon’ events which are held around the UK. My view is that it depends entirely on context. What is the event for and why are players at the event?

Players at the Obi events gain points win or lose (which go towards grading up their ‘Obi man’ figure). The crowd atmosphere is geared up to support both players. Those that may have had a bad run of luck will find themselves facing a Senior Dan grade in their final contest, where their luck tends to reverse, of course 😉

Perhaps the most memorable thing of the last event was a girl who was unfortunately in tears at the beginning due to nerves and so on. But by the end of the day, having watched her friends and had a go herself, she was practically bouncing onto the mat for her third contest. A complete turnaround and that right there is a good example of the spirit of judo shining through.

It is also not just about the players. This time around I had several players from the club who were having a go at refereeing for the first time, so we managed to run a proper team. They certainly got to see that it was not as easy as it looks. This is a perfect sort of event to give it a go though: Friendly atmosphere, all fun.

Naturally, it is still important to get the results right, and one of the main things I had to drill in was correct application of the ‘Majority of 3’ ruling. A couple of times the other members of my team disagreed with my score, but the referee sided with me just because, well, I was the senior referee. I had to call a stop to point out that it doesn’t matter: If I am over-ruled 2 to 1, I am over-ruled, full stop.

Even better, at least one of those helping out wants to go on to do the proper course and subsequent exam.

The correct, supportive environment is a boon to any aspect of judo: Training, competing, officialdom and I’m sure many more.

Judo Refereeing – The Beginning

Now that I am a high enough grade to qualify for an Area Referee (3rd Kyu), I went along to Bexhill Judo Club where they were hosting an introductory refereeing course.

It was an excellent day (We’ll forget the nightmare of parts of the A27 being closed!). It was a perfect mix of theory, demonstration and practical (Everyone got to try their refereeing skills at the end, and indulge in “fake” contests to give the referees something to work with).

It was nice to have new concepts explained (the new Contest and Safety area system on the mat, for example). And I recognised most of the teaching referees present from previous gradings and competitions!

I’m happy in that I came out of it with a 95% pass in the Theory paper. I just need to do the Practical examination now, and if that goes well, I will qualify! That should be within the month.

The Practical exam is actual refereeing at a Senior event (although obviously under heavy supervision). And it is a full day as part of the team (You don’t know which matches you will be assessed on).