Assessment basics

[Yampy]

Yes, getting back to the OP who mentioned Essex FA in his question - this is only the way Essex do it (using an online Google Form), and no updated form = no assessment = no promotion. The guidance is also that any referee who does not fill the form in quickly enough or on time (e.g. fills all of the fixtures in retrospectively) is guilty of poor admin and will also fail.

At the end of the season, the county use the form to see how many games the referee has done, so no getting away with not filling it in.

Interesting way of doing things which, I think has some merit but I don't see why a technophobe should be disadvantaged. Don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate of technology (that's my line of work) but why should a referee who is adverse to all things t'internet be penalised if his paperwork is faultless and he answers his phone?
I'd be happy to see a system introduced which assists in tracking assessments but there has to be an 'opt out' which doesn't jeopardise your promotion should you choose it. An enhance for WGS?

 

[DanCohen17]

Interesting way of doing things which, I think has some merit but I don't see why a technophobe should be disadvantaged. Don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate of technology (that's my line of work) but why should a referee who is adverse to all things t'internet be penalised if his paperwork is faultless and he answers his phone?
I'd be happy to see a system introduced which assists in tracking assessments but there has to be an 'opt out' which doesn't jeopardise your promotion should you choose it. An enhance for WGS?

I actually agree with Essex on this, and disagree with you David. The reason I say this is because further up the ladder, everything is done online. Therefore, if you're unable to do the online stuff, you shouldn't be progressing upwards.

Also, in relation to earlier posts, the fact Middx still do it that way doesn't surprise me in any capacity. In my years going up, and to then on Supply/Contrib, the worst assessors I came across were Middx (not saying you're one of them btw!) and they were, majority, still in stupidly old school ways. Middlesex need to catch up to everyone else. Quickly.

 

[Yampy]

Therefore, if you're unable to do the online stuff, you shouldn't be progressing upwards

That shouldn't be the case in this day and age. I can't believe that the online systems are secure, nor resilient which will mean the backup 'system' is manual and paper-based. There's undoubtedly data protection issues raised here and such a system should have an 'opt out/opt in' option. Just because we have 21st century technology doesn't mean everyone has to abide by it. You have the right to be 20th century if you so wish. It could be viewed as discriminatory otherwise.

 

[Yampy]

Going back to the OP this is my experience from this past weekend.
I was appointed to a game on Saturday afternoon, no NARs but I had a strong suspicion I would be assessed. By Saturday morning, I'd heard nothing and assumed my thinking was misplaced.
Home team calls me 3 hours before the game and tells me they have 'forgotten to book the pitch' at their nominated home ground (don't ask) but there's an alternative pitch available at their training location. I'm in the middle of park watching my son ref at the time but the home team assured me everything was in order.
Match went ahead on time and passed without incident (if you exclude a DOGSO-H as an incident - it was a good save, sadly not by the goalkeeper). I returned to my car and noticed a missed phone call and checked the voicemail - no message.
Later that evening watching England, my phone rings and it's my local RA secretary. He was asking what happened to my game earlier, he'd come to assess me and the teams and I were nowhere to be found. He did call me admittedly but 10 minutes before KO and by then my phone is locked in the car because I'm busy with kit checks, captains and CARs by then. I apologised and explained the situation but I missed an assessment opportunity and he had a wasted journey.
Therefore, I'd prefer to informed beforehand so, days like this can be avoided.

 

[Mewcenary]

That shouldn't be the case in this day and age. I can't believe that the online systems are secure, nor resilient which will mean the backup 'system' is manual and paper-based. There's undoubtedly data protection issues raised here and such a system should have an 'opt out/opt in' option. Just because we have 21st century technology doesn't mean everyone has to abide by it. You have the right to be 20th century of you so wish. It could be viewed as discriminatory otherwise.

Email and the web _is_ 20th century.

 

[Yampy]

Email and the web _is_ 20th century.

Think back to 1999. It was still AOL, AltaVista, Freeserve and dialup connections and the FA still wrote letters. I doubt whether they'd even heard of the Y2K bug. Technology wasn't up to it and the internet was very, very immature.
Today, it's a vastly different beast but vulnerable and flawed.

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Think back to 1999. It was still AOL, AltaVista, Freeserve and dialup connections and the FA still wrote letters. I doubt whether they'd even heard of the Y2K bug. Technology wasn't up to it and the internet was very, very immature.
Today, it's a vastly different beast but vulnerable and flawed.

But it is still the chosen medium used by The FA. If they chose to insist you use the internet/email to complete their promotion procedure, then if you don't you cannot complain if you don't get promoted.

I belong to a professional body who have decided not to accept paper applications for renewal of licences. If you decide not to follow their online procedure, you won't get a new licence. Nothing will change that - it is their published procedure. Comply or fail.

It's a bit like promotion to Level 4. The FA insists that Level 4s must be able to pass the Cooper Test, even though the Cooper Test bears no resemblance to how you run in a game. if you can't pass the test, you won't be a Level 4.

 

[Mewcenary]

Cooper Test is a bare minimum level of fitness (or at least, the 2600m for Level 4 is). You can knock that out and still not be at a credible level to officiate at contrib, imho.

 

[Yampy]

But it is still the chosen medium used by The FA. If they chose to insist you use the internet/email to complete their promotion procedure, then if you don't you cannot complain if you don't get promoted.

I belong to a professional body who have decided not to accept paper applications for renewal of licences. If you decide not to follow their online procedure, you won't get a new licence. Nothing will change that - it is their published procedure. Comply or fail.

It's a bit like promotion to Level 4. The FA insists that Level 4s must be able to pass the Cooper Test, even though the Cooper Test bears no resemblance to how you run in a game. if you can't pass the test, you won't be a Level 4.

And England's best ever referee could live in Norfolk but he won't get passed L7 because he doesn't have a broadband connection. The FA and us will never know how good he/she is.
I work in IT, technology is great and moves things forward tremendously but, when designing these systems, nobody asks the right questions because they don't think it'll ever go wrong or, be hacked or, server crashes or, someone raises a data protection RFI or, England's best referee lives in rural Norfolk and doesn't have an email address. And even when they do ask them, it's too expensive to implement an opt-out/opt-in scheme.

 

[Mewcenary]

A broadband connection is not a requirement for L4+ officiating.

I think you'd struggle to find any best ever referee prospect who isn't exceptionally Internet-savvy.

 

[Yampy]

A broadband connection is not a requirement for L4+ officiating

Of course it isn't. But how do you get there without a broadband connection and an email address if all the County FA/FA systems exclude you if you don't have one?

I think you'd struggle to find any best ever referee prospect who isn't exceptionally Internet-savvy

We may never know but Jack Taylor did alright without t'Internet.

 

[Mewcenary]

If anything, the problem has now swung the other way. Younger referees have all the tech but don't tend to care about email! It's all about social media for them. Hence various FA edicts saying that email must be used NOT messages on Facebook, text messages, Snapchat videos etc.

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Cooper Test is a bare minimum level of fitness (or at least, the 2600m for Level 4 is). You can knock that out and still not be at a credible level to officiate at contrib, imho.

Which is why I said it bears no resemblance to what you need to do in a game.

It would be better if it was like the PGMO/FIFA test with a series of runs/walks over 20 laps. I would also insist on the incorporation of a change of direction test when moving sideways. I have watched too many assistants at Supply (and a few now at Contrib) who struggle to change direction).

Of course it isn't. But how do you get there without a broadband connection and an email address if all the County FA/FA systems exclude you if you don't have one?

We may never know but Jack Taylor did alright without t'Internet.

You don't need a broadband connection for email. I have successfully used email on a series of smartphones for the last 6 seasons and I'm no spring chicken.

 

[Ross]

This is a rather extreme scenario, but just humour me for a second.

What if theres a referee out there that due to some weird belief that all things electrical are bad, living in the arse end of nowhere, gets his mail by carrier pigeon and grows his own food? Then what, just because of his choice of lifestyle and beliefs can not progress up the refereeing ladder? I work with a guy that still has a nokia 3210 and doesnt know how to use a computer, so there are people out there who dont have access to email for whatever reason.

 

[DanCohen17]

Hypothetical -

L4 referee, officiating FA Cup extra prelim game. 1 team is Hertfordshire, 1 team is Middlesex and the referee is London (3 counties, you get the idea). Referee issues 3 cautions (2 for H, 1 for M) and a red each. Game finishes 1-1

Said referee doesn't have Internet. All these reports must be at relevant bodies within 48 hours, right? Oh wait, the replay's gonna be Monday night, not Tuesday. By FA rules, ALL paperwork must be in before replay.
All FA's need to receive this and act accordingly and in conjunction with each other. Now imagine that this referee has to get all these reports snail-mailed, to all associations, in time. Impossible.

Yes, this is a ridiculous situation that isn't going to happen. But as a number of people have said, on really can't officiate at 4+ without Internet. Simple things like date closing, all done off FA's automated back office on MOAS when appointing.

I'm sorry, but in this day and age, there is NO reason you can't do basic Internet stuff and The FA are right (rare, I know) to adopt this attitude.


SENT FROM MY iPHONE!!!

 

[lincs22]

SENT FROM MY iPHONE!!!

Now you are showing off, for us mortals who haven't join the dark side.

 

[DanCohen17]

Now you are showing off, for us mortals who haven't join the dark side.

Haha makes life easy for me Lincs! (This is on my iPad btw!) My US phone & UK phone are both iPhones, just the easy things to use I think!

 

[Yampy]

On the said same weekend, the software provider to the FA decides to upgrade the software which doesn't proceed as planned and there's a major disk failure on the backend database server. For reasons known only to them, no backup was taken before starting and now they're in a right state of affairs. The hardware has failed and an engineer is on the way with a new part which will take at least 12 hours to repair and replace and that's before any further disaster recovery work can commence.
Meanwhile, core and back-up switch failures result in network services across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America going down for 3-4 days. The blackout leaves millions without email, web browsing or instant messaging services and are reportedly due to server problems at one data centre, in Slough.
Also, just hours after its release, a social networking sites’ long-awaited tablet app was already receiving reports about minor bugs from clicking through to pages via panel icons to problems posting comments.

All hypothetical of course but all the above 3 did happen and the reality is that they are more likely than your example. What good will your iPhone (or iPad, or Android device) do you now? You just might need the L7 referee in rural Norfolk who can't get promoted as he doesn't have an internet connection because he's the only person who can cope in this situation.

 

[Yampy]

Oh, I forgot to mention about the FA administrator who opened a malicious link in an email and now a very disgruntled North Korean referee has hacked into the system through a keylogger and other malware. This North Korean has now pilfered internal emails and can remotely access the servers (even though they're down and of no use to him) but he has gained access to some personal data of high profile officials and is threatening to release the data to Wikileaks.

 

[lincs22]

Oh, I forgot to mention about the FA administrator who opened a malicious link in an email and now a very disgruntled North Korean referee has hacked into the system through a keylogger and other malware. This North Korean has now pilfered internal emails and can remotely access the servers (even though they're down and of no use to him) but he has gained access to some personal data of high profile officials and is threatening to release the data to Wikileaks.

Yes, but he will not be able to attend the promotion sessions so there was no point hacking the system for a PGMO appointment!