A&H

A "Beer Belly"

B

BradTheRef

New Member
Hi guys,
Bit of a funny one, but something that has played on my mind for awhile.

I'm particularly fit , compete in primarily half marathons now alongside my reffing, always breeze my fitness tests etc.

However, ever time I see pictures of myself refereeing I always appear too have a beer belly! I'm bar no means stick thin and I never will be however on the other hand I wouldn't regard myself as fat nor would any BMI scale or anything.

I just worry it may slightly jeopardise my credibility slightly ? Especially as there is a real possibility of me being promoted to L4 this year.

Obviously, if this is the case there will be a long summer of training but I just wondered what others would say regarding this ?

Brad
 
The Referee Store
Use it to your advantage! If players look at you and are expecting you to stay in the centre circle, your appearance behind them immediately after giving a foul, or general presence near the ball will do a lot to limit their dissent and/or boost your credibility over what they might expect.
 
When I was L4 and L3 I was always very fit, and marks for fitness and positioning were always my highest sections. At the fitness tests I would always go over 2,900m (and still do over 2,800m when back as a level 5) ...

... but, during most of the time I refereed at those levels I probably carried what you would call a "paunch". Don't worry about it, and the players and managers won't worry unless you aren't keeping up and are too far from play.

Think about the PL referees. Clattenburg, Taylor and Oliver look like athletes, whereas Madley, Mariner and Moss don't. They've all passed the same fitness test and they all keep up with play, so looks can be deceptive.

That's the thing with positioning and fitness. You can be a rubbish referee and might never be able to improve from that, yet the one thing that is entirely in your hands is your fitness and positioning.
 
If you've got swayback posture it will look like a beer belly even if you've not got much belly fat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top