A&H

First game!

Harry Sanger

New Member
Level 7 Referee
Next Sunday I'm reffing my first competitive game, a U13's division one game.
I'd just like to ask if there are any tips anyone could give me.
Also,I often hear the worst part is the abuse from parents on the sidelines for youth games. Do you find this is as bad as people make out? And how much do you take before you stop the game to speak to the manager?
Any advice I can get would help greatly! Thank you!
 
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Welcome to the forum mate.

Just relax as much as you can and enjoy yourself. Don't focus on what can go wrong as you are only putting yourself into a negative mind set before you even start! Creating a little self fulfilling prophecy for yourself...

Focus on what you can control - know the laws of the game as well as you can, make sure your kit is correct and that you take out everything you need (watches, writing implement, cards, WHISTLE, flags and a coin), nice warm up and a big smile.

And no matter how it goes, even if you are in fact the fabled "worst ref in the whole flipping world" that we occasionally get called (and we all pretty much do suck to various degrees in our formative games) don't worry about it. This is a learning process and you will get a damn sight better with time, reflection and hard earned on field experience! (of course if you start out already awesome, then lucky old you - premiership here you come! :D)

And don't forget to make use of the experience of other refs; your local RA being a good source of support and advice and of course a certain referee forum you have already stumbled upon.... :D

Good luck fella and let us know how you get on.
 
Hi Harry, good luck with your first game. I found kids football to be a whole different world altogether!! You'll get the parents who think their lil Johnny is the next Ronaldo, when theyre more like Ronald McDonald! Theyll be times when a kid goes down injured and his mum will just run on the pitch whether play is stopped or not (yes, that actually happened to me)
However, the one bit of advice I want to give is something you do before the game which could make or break how the game goes. You'll get a dad present himself reluctantly as your AR claiming he used to be an 'an old class one'. DO NOT BELIEVE HIM!! Thank him for helping you out but give him only 2 instructions....Ball in and out of play and offsides. Tell him the rest is yours. I can guarentee you he will wave that flag for EVERYTHING...which the other parents will see thinking he must be right. Thats when things can escalate. Keep it simple with them.
Be confident with your decisions. Even if you have a doubt in your mind, give a clear signal and sell it as best you can. I hope it goes well for you and you enjoy it!
 
Hi Harry,

Welcome!

As the others have said, try to relax and be as confident as possible.

Regardless of the age group, your pre-match routine will be pretty much the same. Pitch /goal inspection, quick hello with both managers, players equipment check, warm up, pre-match handshakes, toss the coin and away you go.... :) If you're lucky, the club linesman will make himself known well before kick off giving you an opportunity to pass on your instructions/expectations. Unfortunately sometimes you get to kick off time and the parents are still arguing who's turn it is this week, whilst you, the players and managers are standing around waiting for kick off! :eek:

Try not to let the thought of parents/coaches worry you. I have ref'd for my son's teams for the past 5 years, there's good days and some very bad days. Some parents/coaches are great, others are complete idiots. Either way, you learn to filter out the garbage and only listen out for "ref, can I make a sub please?".

Funny in a way from the first to last whistle, you are the enemy, everything you do will be wrong as far as they are concerned. Don't let it get to you and take it personally (can be difficult I know) Full time whistle goes, it's usually all smiles from the very same people and "thanks ref, did great job!" :)

Couple of years ago, I "retired" from refereeing, partly because I became disillusioned, frustrated and fed up with the abuse and idiots on touchline, I had lost my ref'n mojo! During my 9 month break from refereeing, watch plenty of games. Enjoyed it at first, no pre-match pressure, could just turn up, watch the match and go home without being the centre of attention/abuse etc. The longer it went on, the more I realised I missed it, became frustrated again, stood there thinking some games "I was better than that cheating/useless idiot", "I can still do this and make a difference" etc etc. About 6 months into retirement, had my arm twisted to help out last minute, thought go on then if I must. Was another 3 months before I ref'd another game. Still had a few thoughts of "what am I doing? and "must be mad" especially when the away team for that game had a terrible reputation on and off the pitch and rightly so having witnessed some of it first hand as a ref and spectator on several occasions. Went out there and absolutely nailed it, it was great to be back!

You/we all make mistakes (some more than others), learn from them and come back stronger.

Enjoy it and whilst your in the middle, you can make a difference! There are plenty of idiots on the touchline who think they can do a better job, very few have the balls to go out there and put their money where there mouth is!

Good luck! :cool:
 
Harry, remember you are there to enjoy yourself just as much as you are there to referee. Smile and be confident with the managers. I recommend bringing the managers and CARs together at the same time. You only have to say things once and they all hear exactly the same.

I use variations of (to CARs) "Good morning, thank you for being volunteered to run the line. I'd like you to flag when the ball goes out of play, with a nice clear flag. For offside, please only raise your flag when a player that was in an offside position when the ball was played actually touches the ball - and then raise your flag straight up and hold it there until I whistle. I may have had a different view to you and allow play to continue, in which case I'll acknowledge you - just lower the flag and catch back up with play. For corners, can I have you behind the corner flag so you have a view as to whether the ball goes out of play or not. Please do not flag for any fouls, I will handle those. Finally, whilst you're running the line, you are part of my team. If you get any abuse from either players or parents that you don't like, raise your flag and I will come over and handle it." To managers: "Gents, do you have substitutes with you today? Yep - OK, if you want to substitute a player let me know - but please wait until I signal for the substitution to take place. Can I also remind you that if you or anyone else comes on to check an injured player, that player will have to leave the field of play before play can continue. Any questions?"

Might sound a bit long winded, but it sets out your expectations (and as I said before, do it just the once).

And again, remember - go out and enjoy yourself!
 
Thanks all for your advice,much appreciated and it's nice to know we're all in this together doing the same thing we all love!
 
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