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wazztie16

Level 4 Referee
Level 4 Referee
Hi everyone.

Newbie here (Adam), just booked a course to become a referee.

Excited, nervous, looking forward to it, I won't ask any questions (yet) as I'm still going through the forum, but it's a big help reading what I've read so far.

Here's to my course starting Sunday, just managed to get in the last one of the year after pulling a few strings at work.

Be gentle 😉👍
 
The Referee Store
Hi everyone.

Newbie here (Adam), just booked a course to become a referee.

Excited, nervous, looking forward to it, I won't ask any questions (yet) as I'm still going through the forum, but it's a big help reading what I've read so far.

Here's to my course starting Sunday, just managed to get in the last one of the year after pulling a few strings at work.

Be gentle 😉👍
 
You’ll be fine it’s great !! I loved my one ! Then you do your five games ! I’m
On my forth ! But nervry but ok ! Let’s hope I pass the final exam on call back night or it’s been a big time waste hey !!? Enjoy
 
You’ll be fine it’s great !! I loved my one ! Then you do your five games ! I’m
On my forth ! But nervry but ok ! Let’s hope I pass the final exam on call back night or it’s been a big time waste hey !!? Enjoy

Hi Adam

Welcome to the third team in the beautiful game that has no fans.. However you will have many comrades both in the physical and virtual worlds everywhere..
3rd Team on the pitch, court of play or sands, superb team always..

Enjoy...
 
Welcome Adam.
This place is great for running things past people.
I’m 4 games in after the course and loved every minute of it.

Main piece of advice right now is to learn the laws as best you can. You’ll get a book on your course. Read it thoroughly and use resources like areferee.com to test your knowledge.
When on the pitch. Be firm and fair and confident in your decision (on the outside even if you’re not sure which way the throwing went).
Don’t let players or coaches tell you a decision is wrong- make a call and stick to it.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies so far, I hope Zimmyman, you pass the exam, are you confident that you will?

I don't know you, but I'm sure you'll be just fine, it's always alright on the night :).

Thanks for the welcomes from all of you, appreciated. How did your courses go, if I may ask?

I'm still waiting on being emailed some paperwork to fill out online to take with me, I know I registered only a few days before the course starts, and it was yesterday, so I'm not expecting it straight away, but if i don't get it today then I've only got tomorrow and I'm at work all afternoon till midnight lol.

Thanks Abeverley, I've played 11 a side myself for a little bit in the past, played 5a side for a few years and have followed football all my life so regarding laws, I do have a reasonable understanding.

I've been reading up more since yesterday though, and watched some YouTube videos.

Regarding being firm, fair, confident, I use those qualities in my day job as a bus driver, just a couple of days ago I had to tell a load of students they couldn't bring open alcohol on the bus.

They weren't very happy, but they listened, and I've never had an issue I couldn't sort in 2 years, everyone listens to me, so I'm intending to take that to the pitch.

Again I'm very much looking forward to starting my journey as a referee, my biggest worry is forgetting things or giving throws the wrong way for example, dissent and that probably won't bother me.

Cheers all.
 
The course is fun and very practical. Hands on stuff.
Familiarise yourself with re-starts. That’s one thing they ask.
Knowing direct/indirect free kick etc. Scoring an own goal from a corner. Odd scenarios which don’t happen very often if at all.

Enjoy it. 🙂
 
Odd scenarios which don’t happen very often if at all.

Enjoy it. 🙂

That's something I'm sure will get me, I watched Man U vs Derby and the gk who handled outside the area, took me a couple of seconds to realise it was a straight red.

But I know I'll be just fine :)
 
Well, done my first game on Sunday as a referee, I did one AR the Tuesday before, and one this Tuesday just gone.

The AR's - first one, really enjoyed, didn't make a mistake as far as I remember, didn't flag for a couple of fouls that the referee DID call, but I would've let go (or maybe it was because it was my first match).

Either way, it was a fantastic first match, and I rather warmed to AR.

It was U11, I was surprised at the standard of the play, given that I don't watch kids play football, and there was no trouble or anything, so again, a great first match, and set me up nicely for my second AR appointment.

Second AR was U13, again, a really good match (both were at the Derby County Training Ground), I flagged for an offside that I shouldn't have, as I was watching the ball go forward, and a player in an offside position moved forward, but the ball actually went to an onside player.

All part of the learning curve, and got a bit of banter for that from the parents, I do find I struggle to keep an eye on everything going on at the same time, ball in play, tackles, offside etc. But it'll come in time, and I'm improving.

Onto my referee appointment, it was U15.

One team was a few places and points higher in the table than the other, this match was a Sunday league match.

Game was won by the team that was in the higher position, I got there nice and early, which surprised the home set up.

Did my pitch check, found some bits of rubbish (mirror /glass type stuff) that needed discarding so that was seen to, spoke to managers etc, got changed, got the game underway and everyone seemed happy and content with everything, no cards, no real fouls, no official AR's and had to give an offside that was contentious, but I could only go on what the (unofficial) AR flagged, overall the game was a massive success, after being very nervous beforehand, collected my fee, had a quick chat with the managers etc at the end and made my way out of there with a big smile on my face.

Then found out both teams had scored me 100/100.

Didn't expect that, a little bird had told me one team had done that before I left the match, but didn't expect it from both teams.

So onto this Sunday, a game slightly more local to me, with a team from the area I used to live in for a good few years.

U14, off the top of my head.

Nervous again, but I know I can do it. I know I forgot procedures in my first game, but everything went smoothly, no complaints, shown by the marking of myself by teams, I just want to do well in every game.

Cheers for reading, I'll add bits as and when (and if anyone comments).
 
Do not worry about your marks. When you give a team a red card or a penalty against them your marks will probably go down so just ignore them. good luck
 
To be fair, I thought my marks would go down after the contentious offside decision, but I was wrong.
 
Brilliant. Well done!

Good stuff with the flag. It's the best way to learn from other refs. And no problem at all to not flag for fouls given by your ref. The more games I have done as AR, the less I flag. Next time ask your ref for advice before the game. Most will say something like: "always look to see if I am making a decision either way, only flag quickly for what is right in front of you, even then consider if I might want advantage".

As you seem to hint, concentration is key. A lot of ARs, right to the top level, talk to themselves to stay alert and point the right way. Also focus on the basics. Your priorities as an AR, unless the ref tells you otherwise, are typically goal/no goal, offside, ball in/out. Anything else is a bonus. You know your football, so anticipation is the other thing to use. Start moving when the ball is in the air, follow shots in, remember the ball might be the offside line.

One disputed offside, handled well, in the context of a solid game... again, great work. Thankfully I don't have to deal with CARs. With beginner NARs then sometimes if, as a ref, you can clearly see they have put the flag up and it's obviously not an offence (offside player isn't the player that plays the ball is most common, like yours) then, you wave the flag down and scream to carry on. However, it is really difficult for us. If a flag goes up and players stop playing (which they shouldn't) and it takes time for us to compute (not ideal, but reality) and it's e.g. close to goal (so, it feels like the ARs mistake is having a big effect)... it's very hard psychologically for us not to stop the game. One reason why a lot of folks on here restrict CARs to ball in/out.

And for more on the laws areferee.com has been updated and the questions are really challenging;)

Good luck next time. Expect the unexpected!
 
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Well, done my first game on Sunday as a referee, I did one AR the Tuesday before, and one this Tuesday just gone.

The AR's - first one, really enjoyed, didn't make a mistake as far as I remember, didn't flag for a couple of fouls that the referee DID call, but I would've let go (or maybe it was because it was my first match).

Either way, it was a fantastic first match, and I rather warmed to AR.

It was U11, I was surprised at the standard of the play, given that I don't watch kids play football, and there was no trouble or anything, so again, a great first match, and set me up nicely for my second AR appointment.

Second AR was U13, again, a really good match (both were at the Derby County Training Ground), I flagged for an offside that I shouldn't have, as I was watching the ball go forward, and a player in an offside position moved forward, but the ball actually went to an onside player.

All part of the learning curve, and got a bit of banter for that from the parents, I do find I struggle to keep an eye on everything going on at the same time, ball in play, tackles, offside etc. But it'll come in time, and I'm improving.

Onto my referee appointment, it was U15.

One team was a few places and points higher in the table than the other, this match was a Sunday league match.

Game was won by the team that was in the higher position, I got there nice and early, which surprised the home set up.

Did my pitch check, found some bits of rubbish (mirror /glass type stuff) that needed discarding so that was seen to, spoke to managers etc, got changed, got the game underway and everyone seemed happy and content with everything, no cards, no real fouls, no official AR's and had to give an offside that was contentious, but I could only go on what the (unofficial) AR flagged, overall the game was a massive success, after being very nervous beforehand, collected my fee, had a quick chat with the managers etc at the end and made my way out of there with a big smile on my face.

Then found out both teams had scored me 100/100.

Didn't expect that, a little bird had told me one team had done that before I left the match, but didn't expect it from both teams.

So onto this Sunday, a game slightly more local to me, with a team from the area I used to live in for a good few years.

U14, off the top of my head.

Nervous again, but I know I can do it. I know I forgot procedures in my first game, but everything went smoothly, no complaints, shown by the marking of myself by teams, I just want to do well in every game.

Cheers for reading, I'll add bits as and when (and if anyone comments).
You sound like an experienced referee already. Well done and good to hear you enjoyed them.

Hope your next game and many more to come are just as enjoyable. You would eventually get a tough one that would make you question your ability and think if refereeing is for you. The trick with those is to know EVERY single referee gets them every now and then. Use them as character building experience, learn what you can from them and put them behind you.
 
You’ll be fine it’s great !! I loved my one ! Then you do your five games ! I’m
On my forth ! But nervry but ok ! Let’s hope I pass the final exam on call back night or it’s been a big time waste hey !!? Enjoy

Whats the exam like? heard people say it pretty straightforward and on the side folk say its quite hard, but from what i know not that many people fail? did any1 fail on ur course? 80% is a high pass mark
 
Welcome Adam.
This place is great for running things past people.
I’m 4 games in after the course and loved every minute of it.

Main piece of advice right now is to learn the laws as best you can. You’ll get a book on your course. Read it thoroughly and use resources like areferee.com to test your knowledge.
When on the pitch. Be firm and fair and confident in your decision (on the outside even if you’re not sure which way the throwing went).
Don’t let players or coaches tell you a decision is wrong- make a call and stick to it.

got my exam tonight and i cant even pass the 50 question exam on areferee.com not looking good for me.
 
It’s no where near as hard as that. Don’t worry.
Just read the question carefully and all will be well.
 
cool, cheers was panicking a bit, is it 80% in multiple choice and 80% in video clips or both accumulated together?
yeh the 50 exam questions on areferee.com is quite hard.
 
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