Coaches and refereeing

[DazN]

During my recent referee course I became acutely aware of how inadequate my knowledge was when it came to the laws of the game, despite having qualified as a Level 1 coach and done some coaching at a youth level. Now, since doing my course, I often find myself being asked questions and more often than not, coaches and players are just as ignorant as I was to the rules, many coaches having an ex-player's perspective, combined with a ton of wrong information surrounding the game 'I got the ball ref!'

So my question is this? Do you think that the laws of the game should form a part of the coaching qualifications? Most games my son played in up to 9v9 had the home coach in the middle, so really they should know the rules but many don't seem to!

Personally, I will be encouraging my son to take the course when he is old enough. Whether he chooses to referee or not is up to him, but the change in perspective you get has proven hugely beneficial to me and I think it would to many players and coaches alike.

Be interesting to hear your thoughts.

 

[ChasObserverRefDeveloper]

The coaches' courses always used to include a session on the laws, led by a referee tutor, followed by a written exam. Seldom taken seriously until they found it was mandatory to pass

 

[DazN]

The coaches' courses always used to include a session on the laws, led by a referee tutor, followed by a written exam. Seldom taken seriously until they found it was mandatory to pass

Interesting. I wonder when they got rid of that?

 

[Trip]

That must be a while ago. I did level one about 5 years ago and there was no mention of laws of the game. In fact there barely anything on football at all, it was all about 1) safety and 2) making it fun. Which I think is fine.

I've just done the UEFA C coaching course and there's nothing in there about the laws either.

 

[RustyRef]

When I did my coaching badges, and I'm going back 20 ish years here, there was a mandatory laws of the game module and exam. Fail the exam and retakes and you failed the coaching course, and the scores from some other members of my group were astonishingly low. I'm pretty sure this is where the "Neil Warnock is a qualified referee" perpetual comments come from, he wasn't / isn't but had to do a LoTG exam to get his badges.

 

[Kes]

When I did my coaching badges, and I'm going back 20 ish years here, there was a mandatory laws of the game module and exam. Fail the exam and retakes and you failed the coaching course, and the scores from some other members of my group were astonishingly low. I'm pretty sure this is where the "Neil Warnock is a qualified referee" perpetual comments come from, he wasn't / isn't but had to do a LoTG exam to get his badges.

Yep. Same here.
Did the Level 1 course around 13 years ago and the LOTG exam formed a mandatory part of it. All multiple choice questions as I recall. I think the pass mark was around 75% as well although I'm pretty sure our course tutor found a way to tick the box for all participants if you catch my drift.
To be bluntly honest, the very concept of not being required to know the laws of the sport you're able to coach in (even if it's just kids football) has me shaking my head in disbelief...

 

[Trip]

The problem is that there is a dire shortage of coaches. I coach a U10 side and we could easily have two or even three teams at that age but there's no coaches.

The absolute minimum qualification for coaching is being able to put on sessions which are safe and fun. And that is exactly what the new level one covers. I don't think knowledge of the laws is anywhere near as important for a grassroots coach.

When you're doing UEFA licenses though, you should definitely be taught the laws.