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Junior/Youth First Cup Final - AR

magpie1892

New Member
Level 7 Referee
Just got my first junior cup final as an AR

This is my first full season as a referee (started around this time last year) so I'm chuffed!

Final is next month.

Any tips?
 
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If you've been taught the basics on the academy games then you should be fine. Knowing the basics such as having the flag in the correct hand is a good footing to grow from. It's a real pet hate of mine as it's not hard to correct (having it in the wrong hand).
 
Don't ball watch. You're the eyes in the back of the referee's head. 2 players go down in a tangle and the ball moves upfield? Watch those players. Ball up the other end of the pitch? You need to be scanning the field. If the keeper belts the striker 40 yards away from play, somebody better have seen it - and yes, these incidents do occur.
 
I knew I'd probably over-load him with a ridiculous amount of information and so I thought I'd leave the advice down to others but I think I've narrowed it down to probably the most key one.

Eye contact. Use it to maintain non-verbal communication with each other. Get an idea of what decision he is going to make or if he isn't going to make a decision. If he does not have a clue he will stare at you burning holes through you. If he goes one way and you disagree, the eye contact means that you won't display a contradictory decision, and if you already have, you can see to drop that signal and go with him. The best teams of officials communicate well.
 
seems everything is covered here so far!

show the ref you're a worthy allie on the field of play! nothing worse then the ref expecting you to help him out and your caught staring into the sky, or into space (as in nothing, not the black mystical area beyond earth)

first game I had with a Level 4 (had lined loads before for this particular league), he was kind of bemused why a level 7 was his Senior AR ... 20 minutes in, crowed 3rd half, I grab an inch perfect offside! player had cleverly bent the run off to confuse defenders then came back on (just after the ball was played!) flag straight up! bemused players, and I must say a little bemused ref, do the trusty PL looping signal over the flag to insinuate coming back from an offside ...

ref loved it at half time! (even the spectator standing behind complemented me!!) smiles all round! :D:D
 
Oh yeah - bring your full kit onto the pitch. Cards, notebook, pens, whistle, coin.
Yep, all of the above if the ref goes down injured and you have to take over, but don't forget a watch - even if nothing else goes wrong, any ref can have a battery run out and you can get major brownie points for saving them!
 
Yep, all of the above if the ref goes down injured and you have to take over, but don't forget a watch - even if nothing else goes wrong, any ref can have a battery run out and you can get major brownie points for saving them!

plus you're bound to be asked "How long lino?" very rare for a game to pass without that happening, no matter how few spectators there are!;)
 
plus you're bound to be asked "How long lino?" very rare for a game to pass without that happening, no matter how few spectators there are!;)
My first Supply League AR assessment, it was noted disapprovingly that I answered that very question from a spectator :(. Lesson learnt ....
 
My first Supply League AR assessment, it was noted disapprovingly that I answered that very question from a spectator :(. Lesson learnt ....
I don't know why the assessor didn't like this. Why wouldn't you answer a civil question? As long as you don't turn to the spectators to answer there's no harm done. If you ignore them and won't answer they'll be onto you like a shot.
 
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