Before last season the NWKL sent the usual 'respect yor refs' memo but with the addition of emphasising the role of captains in the well being of their team, recommending the use of time outs to calm agitated players etc, bigging up their responsibilities. Also for the most part, we assigned the more experienced refs to do the potentialy tougher games. We had very few problems in the end, but you can never be complacent.

Sometimes it's just little things like this you need to do, but again I dont know the conditions in the LKA.

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Proposal 6: The LKA proposes to limit the length of the indoor league in order that the league doesn’t last too long and to make it less like likely that there will be gaps in the fixtures. A shorter season should help to keep established players sufficiently fresh to participate in summer development activities.

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Training every Wednesday, near Waterloo Station
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In the lower league matches that I have watched, I have seen inexperienced refs turn up to matches, and attempt to ref a game with no support whatsoever from their own club. I have to say that at the lowest league level, I have seen frustrated players, but not huge amounts of abuse of the ref from players. (It's more of a problem at higher level games when abuse can come from more experienced players.)

My proposal would be to consider different ways of supporting those new / inexperienced refs, eg 1) If a club is sending an inexperienced ref to a match, contact the home team beforehand and ask them if there is an experienced player / ref who could make them feel welcome when they arrive, put them at their ease, and possibly even provide feedback at half time. If this is done in advance, then it would be supportive, rather than confrontational.
eg 2) Consider using home team refs for lower team matches, especially where there are more than one team playing at the same venue. These home team refs could either be experienced refs, or they could be inexperienced, with an experienced ref assessing them / giving them feedback. Some people might find it tricky to ref their own club members, but others may find it less intimidating than reffing 16 people they've never met before.

Have just noticed that the LKAdevelopment meeting clashes with the juniors games at 11.40. Regretably this will impact those involved in Bec, Bromley, Croydon, Nomads and possibly Trojans juniors.

I thought this meeting was originally scheduled to start at 10am?

Bill

For me, it is contingent that teams accept the ref's decision without bias (I have yet to see this to be a problem when we have had a home club ref) and a feedback mechanism for both teams to rate the ref in case there are consistent concerns.

This is not an ideal situation and would not put in place to regional league but I think has significant merits at the lower level.

Craig

Liam

I have a few reservations with regard to the refs bit though. I think the only way a non-officiating qualified ref could cite a player was if they were a neutral spectator at the game, ideally present to give feedback to the beginner ref. I cant see how a player or coach (who just happens to also be a ref) can make an unbiased judgement in the heat of a game. You could in theory have a situation where a player cards their opponent!!

A mentoring system i think is the way forward and is something we have tried to implement in the northwest over the last few years. Clearly the theory exam does not adequately prepare someone to ref a league match, though sometimes in the past it has been a case of "well your're the only one available", and we give them a whistle and sort of hope for the best. We now ask clubs to get their newer refs to start doing games in training, so at least they get some experience, and any major errors in the knowledge of rules can be corrected sooner, and in a more informal setting.
Clubs are responsible for their appointments (we have neutral refs), so they can ensure first time refs get their least contentious games when they are ready to do full length games - Its not a written rule but clubs will expect each ref to do a game or two. The two captains are informed before the start that there is a debut ref and to ensure their players behave themselves. It has also helped that we have moved to a MGV format which means there is usually an experienced ref present to give feedback as a qualified neutral. Indeed if we know its someones first game we can normally arrange for someone else to go along if needed. This in particular seems to have helped as 1) Refs are more confident as they dont feel so alone, 2) Any guidance to refs can be given in an objective manner at half time or at end of game, rather than a player telling them they dont know the rules etc, 3) Players seem generally happier as they can see we are actively attempting to improve standards, and I have been very impressed by the standard of some of our refs who only did the the theory 6 months ago.

While I dont know the level of dissent at LKA level, it also helps if refs are always prepared with cards at matches in case they need them. Im guessing at recrational level often refs may not have them. We issued each NWKA ref that passed the theory exam a whistle and red/yellow cards. The cards were cut out from A4 so cost virtually nothing - You could even cut them to credit card sized to fit into wallets so they dont lose them - Anyone playing in NWKL knows for a fact that the ref WILL have cards on them.

While this has not eliminated all problems it has certainly helped, though I would agree that some newer refs would not feel confident in issuing cards. It may help if experienced refs show a good example when cards are warranted, though funnily enough whenever I ref local league games the players are as good as gold, so my cards are never needed!!

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