The Ref Stop

next steps

J

josh24

New Member
This is gonna be a bit long-winded so strap in.

I have been trying to get qualified with my CFA but their courses seem to be constantly booked up. I am currently a club assistant in a Step 7 league and have received really positive feedback from experienced referees and any of their observers asking me whether I am qualified and are encouraging me to. I have also refereed a small handful of U11 games as a club referee when they were short, through my own club, and have had no issues as of yet. I have experimented with REFSIX as both a referee and an assistant, despite not being qualified, but almost preparing for when I am qualified and I am very comfortable with the interface and plan to continue using it in the future. After having an experience with both, I think I prefer being on the touchline as an assistant, but I'm not sure how it works whether you can be an assistant only when being appointed to games, etc.

I don't really know where to go from here as I want to properly get into refereeing/being a linesman, but am struggling to get on a course as I feel that should be the next step.

Any advice/ideas would be much appreciated
(I am 15 if that helps in any way, but 16 in a few months)

Thanks
 
The Ref Stop
Give your County FA a call and ask to speak to the Referee Development Officer. They should be able to get your name for a course before it gets booked up again.
They can also answer all your questions and will be delighted to hear from a young person who’s as keen as you sound!

Good luck 👍🏻
 
Couple of things.

1) Where in the country are you? Members on here might be able to give you the RDO contact name to speak to if you can give the county you are based in.
2) If you are 15, my understanding is that you shouldn't be doing Open Age football, even as a club Assistant as the requirement is for you to be 16, however I'll defer to others who know more @ChasObserverRefDeveloper is normally pretty clued up on this side of the house.
 
Have you done the online part of the course? If so, did you register your interest in refereeing in your home county? If you answer "yes" to both, the Referee Development Officer will have your name.
I suggest an e-mail or phone call to the RDO to ask when a local course will be available.
Meanwhile @Justylove is right - as you are under 16 you should not be lining on open age football yet.
Most counties are running courses regularly now, but with the Covid period backlog to clear we are all playing "catch up" currently.
Well done so far - let us know how you get on with the RDO (whose details are on the County FA website)
 
Thanks for the responses,
I have completed the online part of the course following the recommendation of one of the referees I ran the line for while I waited for a course to pop up. I am Bedfordshire-based and will have a look on their website for an email to get in contact with the RDO. On the age issue, I didn't actually know I had to be 16, but I've been their assistant all season and no one has had an issue with it, is it a case of keep quiet until the season is over and I turn 16 or to pull away a bit until my birthday, to be fair I do have my GCSEs coming up which will mean I have less time to referee etc.
 
My advice would be to stop immediately now you know.

It's also a bit naughty of the club as they should also know better!
 
jrussell said:
After having an experience with both, I think I prefer being on the touchline as an assistant, but I'm not sure how it works whether you can be an assistant only when being appointed to games, etc.
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At grassroots level and until you get to level 4/3 as a referee, you can't take any sort of specialist assistant role.

You can become pretty good at it if you want to stay at the lower levels but you need to do 'middles' to get promoted.

It's the way I think I'm intending to progress, get up to 4/3 and take the specialist assistant pathway, I really enjoy AR roles and did a lot of them when I started, but just need to follow the process to get to the higher levels.

Good luck, you've got a lot of potential if you stick at it!
 
jrussell said:
Thanks for the responses,
I have completed the online part of the course following the recommendation of one of the referees I ran the line for while I waited for a course to pop up. I am Bedfordshire-based and will have a look on their website for an email to get in contact with the RDO. On the age issue, I didn't actually know I had to be 16, but I've been their assistant all season and no one has had an issue with it, is it a case of keep quiet until the season is over and I turn 16 or to pull away a bit until my birthday, to be fair I do have my GCSEs coming up which will mean I have less time to referee etc.
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This is a massive child protection issue, and if it came to light the club would be facing huge problems.
 
josh24 said:
Thanks for your feedback guys, I will step away for a couple months until my birthday, to protect myself and the club I am helping out.
Your inputs are much appreciated
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Morning Josh

BedsFA are running them and they are difficult to get on.

Firstly, like others have said you need to get in contact with the CFA. Email Jose, he can help and support you.

Jose.Gomes@bedfordshirefa.com
Jose Gomes
Workforce & Referee Development Officer
Bedfordshire Football Association
 
josh24 said:
Thanks for the responses,
I have completed the online part of the course following the recommendation of one of the referees I ran the line for while I waited for a course to pop up. I am Bedfordshire-based and will have a look on their website for an email to get in contact with the RDO. On the age issue, I didn't actually know I had to be 16, but I've been their assistant all season and no one has had an issue with it, is it a case of keep quiet until the season is over and I turn 16 or to pull away a bit until my birthday, to be fair I do have my GCSEs coming up which will mean I have less time to referee etc.
Click to expand...
Send me a pm I’m in Bedfordshire I can point you in the right direction
 
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