In Service Training for level 7 and 6 promotion candidates
Falmer 12th August 2007
Importance of preparing your body for the rigours of refereeing.............
When a referee arrives at the ground prior to his/her match there are always lots of things to deal with. Meeting managers and officials, exchanging team sheets, pitch inspections, match instructions to either appointed or club assistants, sorting out footballs, getting changed, meeting an assessor, player equipment checks; the list can go on and on.
However we must plan to allow time to thoroughly prepare our body and this is done in a pre-match warm up.
A warm up is not exclusive to players. Research shows that a referee could easily run further than a midfield player during the 90 or 120 minutes of a game. Therefore preparation is vital.
A general warm up takes three phases
1. Some light jogging for at least 5 minutes (maybe 2 or 3 laps of the pitch) In the final couple of minutes of this stage build in some sideways “crabbing”, high hurdles, hamstring walk etc, in fact virtually anything from Python's Ministry of Silly Walks will do. You have now warmed up the majority of your muscle groups
2. Some static stretching
Never Bounce a stretch & never over stretch to the point where it hurts.*
3. Faster Dynamic actions
Shuttles etc where the body is made to work that bit harder
Tip ~ Wear the right clothing. Obviously this depends on the weather. In rain, waterproof over trousers and waterproof tops are essential.
Tip ~ Ensure that your warm up gear cannot cause offence. Wearing a Manchester United shirt may not give the right impression – a Burnley top of course would be fine <me laughing out loud>.
Remember also that your warm up will probably be the players first opportunity of “weighing up” the referee. Therefore it is a great opportunity to put across your professionalism and gives you a chance to make eye contact and communicate with players (if only a, “good afternoon” as you are calmly jog around the pitch). Remember first impressions really count!
Finally the warm helps you focus on the game ahead and will help you prepare yourself mentally for the task ahead.
* Please take time to read the FA Guide to Fitness. Pages 18~20 which covers warming up in great detail and illustrates the static stretches we covered in the IST day.
Please feedback the experiences of your next warm up.
Fitter or Smarter?
A presentation by Paul Saunders, Sussex County FA referee's development officer
Ask yourself the question.... What do we mean by “Fitter or Smarter?”
The group watched video clips of referees in action and were asked to comment.
Were the referees chasing play or anticipating play? Lets discuss a refereeing style where we differentiate between chasing/running around after play or reading the game. That latter may be thought of as "smarter" and requires a degree of tactical awareness.
Aim
To be smart enough and fit enough to anticipate play in order to make credible decisions to enhance overall match control.
Focus on:
- Fitness being fit
- Awareness aware of what is happening around us
- Anticipation being able to anticipate what will happen next
We'll first look at Fitness (the audience was split into several groups of 6 and were asked to consider three questions).
How fit do you need to be?
How do you reach and maintain this level?
What do we mean by being mentally fit?
Remember
Be fit enough for the level of the game! – you up your level of fitness the higher you go.
Identify your own areas of development
Consider how to meet these needs
training methods – training alone, in groups – County Fitness!!
Maintaining fitness levels
Remember be fit to referee not referee to be fit
Being mentally fit and focused
Plan your day what you do during the day, the night before etc
Awareness and Anticipation
A presentation by Paul Saunders, Sussex County FA referee's development officer
"What do we mean by Awareness and Anticipation and how do we improve it?" Reading the game - team approach and their tactics. Think about where you are likely to be needed next and be aware of personal battles developing on the field of play.
The group were shown some video clips of referees and were asked if the referee was anticipating play or merely reacting.
We have heard the phrase ‘Right Place, Right Time’ to be able to do this we need to be aware (alert) and anticipate what his going to happen. This is linked to a variety of things – positioning, viewing angle and distance.
Mental fitness - time during the match, what type of match and how we feel before the match. Paul gave various ideas of how to maintain mental fitness as physical fitness had been covered earlier.
What next – the audience were asked for some ideas of how they might improve having seen, heard and discussed the topic.
Laws of the Game changes Presentation
Tim Lawrence, Sussex County FA Training Officer
A presentation of the law of the game changes. Follow this link to Sussex FA website to view. Link to Sussex FA |
