Who is the game for?
For a
start I have found that it can be of great benefit to a
Referee if he has done his “homework” on the teams involved
in the match he is about to officiate in.
On match day try and be as personable and as pleasant as
necessary to anyone you may meet at the ground, especially
those you may have met before. Display a relaxed (not too
much mind) attitude which will show confidence. Be
informal, if you can be, and use people’s first names but
make sure that there is an even balance between the two
teams when you do this.
Try and make it clear that you although you are there to
referee you are there to enjoy yourself also. Let them know
that you know something about the two teams, any recent
previous encounters?
It is always a good start to let the players know that they
are not just names and numbers to you, be interested in
what they have done and express pleasure about if it is
appropriate. Above all make sure that you make it clear
that the ‘business’ of refereeing is something that you
look forward to each week.
If you have any pre-match inspections to do regarding the
players (i.e. boots or jewellery) then try to do them in an
unobtrusive casual manner by maybe wandering around the
players. For example if you know the major
brand-names/designs of football boots by their symbols and
flashes etc then you will know that they will conform to
the laws of the game. Try and take care of your
responsibilities without interfering with the player’s
warm-up and their socialising before kick-off.
With team managers/secretaries try and adopt a co-operative
approach by asking for their assistance from the outset.
Not only with something that they are responsible for
(i.e.: substitutions), but also with something that belongs
exclusively to the Referee ‘Decision making’. Most people
will respond positively to requests for assistance and by
inviting the managers/secretaries to help you, you would be
making positive efforts to ensure that there would be
complete co-operation between them and you throughout the
game. This would be co-operation for the sake of the
players.
Referee’s and managers/secretaries should work together in
a kind of ‘colleague’ way but I appreciate that on many
occasions this is not possible mainly because of the
unchangeable attitude of the manager/secretary, something
which they may have been like for many years. Referees and
managers/secretaries should not be enemies if at all
possible so as to benefit of the game and the players.
Till
The Next Time,
Happy Whistling!!!
Malcolm L
(The Refwatcher)