The Ref Stop

New referee, can't keep up with game.

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The Ref Stop
If you are fairly new to football its going to be pretty hard to play it let alone officiate it! Reaction time will come with a bit of experience, but the best advice I have for you is watch/go to as many games as possible and watch the ref as well as the game!
 
Maybe even get involved in playing if you can. Doesn't need to be organised 11 a side, 5 aside will do the trick. Gives you an idea of how football works.
 
Two points - firstly, practice practice practice. Offer your services (free of charge) to a local youth football club, to go and referee some of their mini-soccer matches (remember you will need to go through child protection procedures if you haven't already done so). Smaller pitches with fewer players at a slower pace. Secondly, pick up on some of the advice and assistance on this site. For example, where you say you mistakenly called a goal kick rather than a corner... when the ball goes out of play and you are not sure which team had the last touch, and your AR (if there is one) cannot help, then look for player reaction - often a good sign as to what the decision should be. If that doesn't help (e.g. both sides are clamouring that it is theirs), award it to the defensive side. The old adage "you can't please all of the people all of the time" could be slightly re-written for referees: "you won't please half of the players half of the time".
 
As others have said, watch as much football as you can, whether that is on Match of the Day, on line or wherever.
Also, perhaps popping down to the local rec on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning to watch some grassroots football can help.
It'll give you a chance to see what the standard of football is in your area, and you'll also get a chance to see how other more experienced refs deal with positioning and certain incidents etc.

With the speed of making decisions, it does come with experience, but you'll also realise that you don't have to make instant decisions, it may not seem like when you start out, but you have more time than you think to make a decision.

Finally, if the ball goes out over the touchline or goal line, you don't know who it came off last and both teams are claiming it, give it with confidence to the defending side.

Even though one team will say you've made the wrong call, it's unlikely a goal is going to be scored directly from a goal kick, and a throw at least half the pitch away isn't going to affect the game too much.
 
Sky Sports is your friend

I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say once you put on that black, you can never watch a game of football again, you only have eyes for the ******* in the middle!

Good luck bud
 
it will come with experience, refereeing is muc harder than it looks you have al,ready had good advice get out and watch as many other referees as you can
 
abjolm said:
Im new to refereeing (& fairly new-ish to football). Just taken the course tutorial for the FA basic refer course. In my assessment I did really badly & I pm pretty sure it was a result of me just not being able to keep my eye on the game when it's moving so fast. E.g I mistakenly called a goal kick rather than a corner kick in a panic. I reckon it takes me about 5 seconds to make a decision that is correct & get ready to make the correct siginal, by which time the players will have moved on or will be waiting. Can anyone give me some advice on improving my rate of attention + reaction time. I'm really concerned about these 5 games I have to officiate to qualify.
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@abjolm You say you are new to refereeing and new-ish to football - how new??

And what made you want to pick up the whistle?

Sorry for all the questions - just curious.

Welcome to the club!
 
RegalRef said:
@abjolm You say you are new to refereeing and new-ish to football - how new??

And what made you want to pick up the whistle?

Sorry for all the questions - just curious.

Welcome to the club!
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Hello,
In terms of refereeing I've only just taken the tutorial with my local FA branch. Football I've started watching the games for a few month now. I admit I'm possibly a little 'too new' to try & be one a referee but I kind of want to get involved without learning to play. Learning to play now would be like learning to walk when you're 50. In terms of the game I've never been too keen on playing FB but enjoy looking at the statistics behind it.
 
Might seem like a strange question but Why on earth do you want to be a football referee of you dont like football?
 
abjolm said:
Hello,
In terms of refereeing I've only just taken the tutorial with my local FA branch. Football I've started watching the games for a few month now. I admit I'm possibly a little 'too new' to try & be one a referee but I kind of want to get involved without learning to play. Learning to play now would be like learning to walk when you're 50. In terms of the game I've never been too keen on playing FB but enjoy looking at the statistics behind it.
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Watch as much football as you can, try to call it in 'real time' with the right decision at home and make the correct signal as quickly as you can.

Sure you'll feel a prat but it will definitely help and doesn't matter if you're wrong at any point.

Joking apart though respect for wanting to get actively involved with a sport you're new to.

Takes some balls that.
 
It's not easy atall refereeing, especially not having any experience playing the game. However no mater how good you are at refereeing your allways going to make a mistake but you need to move on from it but at the same time learn from it.

There's no rush making a decision, take your Time and be confident with it.

And like the others say, watch as much football as you can and try to pretend your the ref. It might also help watching videos on YouTube.

Try and read the LOTG as much as you can even If it's just a law per night.

And finally like a few others have said, try and get a few mini soccer (5v5) matches in as these games are generally quite slow and will help you get into the swing of things. Try contacting your local leagues/clubs and see if they can give you any help.

Good luck

:)
 
Even better, try and watch a local park game with a local ref in the middle.

Can learn more from your equals than anyone else ;)
 
I had watched football for over 30 years before I picked up the whistle, so had a good grasp of how things worked. You (the OP) can compress that by watching a lot of tv football and watching the referee
 
abjolm said:
Hello,
In terms of refereeing I've only just taken the tutorial with my local FA branch. Football I've started watching the games for a few month now. I admit I'm possibly a little 'too new' to try & be one a referee but I kind of want to get involved without learning to play. Learning to play now would be like learning to walk when you're 50. In terms of the game I've never been too keen on playing FB but enjoy looking at the statistics behind it.
Click to expand...

i was 21 when i started playing football... i think it would be beneficial for you to maybe try it... you certainly get a perspective of whats going on out there without the added pressure of having to get the call correct every time... it would get your senses up to speed
 
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