Whistle of the Month - April

April's Whistle of the Month as chosen by editor Aaron Dine was the article below written by level 5 referee Mike Desborough on advice for promotion and assessments:

Promotion and Assessments

We all know the job we do is not an easy one, however, by good application of law and making use of our management skills, I am sure our games will run much more smoothly. I am in my 4th season now and have benefited a lot from the help and advice of colleagues around me. This help and advice is available to each and every one of you, but will need some work and dedication on your part; by attending meetings and communicating with the relevant people. I speak to fellow referees on a daily basis, at higher levels and lower levels than myself.

It is always good to gauge what is going on and chat to colleagues about their games and experiences. I in turn will always offer my opinion and advice. But you have to be big enough to take the opinions and advice of others. I speak to 2-3 referees every Saturday evening after my game, no matter how it has gone.

Last season when I was going for my level 5, I completely and utterly screwed up my first assessment, my own fault. The main reason … Dissent. I did not deal with it in the appropriate manner, and this seems to be a trait lately at local level. This season I have been more than happy to read some assessments of some of our local promotion candidates and offer my advice etc, and in all of them, dissent has been a major factor. Some referees regard it as one of the most difficult things to deal with, but it isn’t really. As you move up the ladder you will see how the level of dissent and frustration changes and the player’s are better skilled and understand the game more. At local level, we all know they are less skilled, however, what they do know is dissent is not acceptable at any level.

How to deal with dissent: (This is only my opinion)

Never ever think about how much of the match you have played, that should not be a factor. Earlier in the season I was in the middle for AFC Stoneham v Otterbourne; after 51 seconds a perfectly good challenge is made on an Otterbourne player, to which he shouts at the top of his voice ‘what game are you watching ref’. Less than a minute played and a caution for dissent, did I have anymore during that game for dissent? No.

The first bout of dissent that is clearly aimed at you, take a few seconds to think, how can I deal with this? Was it loud, was it abusive, did he/she swear at me, yellow or red? Once you have gone through this thought process, deal with it.

My advice would be, if you come to the conclusion it is a yellow card or a talking to then don’t stop the game, deal with that at the next stoppage, and when you do, make sure everybody around knows you are not impressed and won’t tolerate it anymore. If it is a red card for use of offensive, insulting or abusive language, then the game should be stopped (unless the opposition have a goal scoring opportunity).

Dissent is something that will go one of two ways, deal with it and you won’t get as much. Don’t deal with it, and you will have 22 players on your back. Not dealing with dissent correctly is one of the easiest ways to lose valuable marks, as I learnt. Don’t let assessors take those marks away cheaply.

One thing that helped me going up the ladder, and I still do it now regularly, is going out to watch colleagues at both local level and above. There is always something you can learn. I never go alone, because there are always things to discuss during a match. I can’t stress to referees, not just promotion candidates, how important it is to go out and watch games and learn from other referees.

On the other hand you may find yourself coming away thinking ‘I can’t take anything from that game’. But it is good to see how your colleagues do things differently. I regularly invite some of our local promotion candidates to my midweek games, that way they get to learn pre-match procedures, post match procedures and of course the level of football on the next rung of the ladder.

I also benefited from going out with an assessor to a game on the Wessex League. Last season I went with Ash Potter to Hamble ASSC v Wimborne Town. He gave me a piece of paper and a pen, and told me we would compare notes after the game. It’s surprising what you see from the touchline.

It was the day after that I signed up to the next available assessor’s course. This is something that can only improve your own game and I strongly recommend it to anybody who wants to move on. (Only available to Level 6 or above referees, with experience of refereeing)

I am always happy to speak to anybody on the phone about an incident in their game or something in their assessment, and there are plenty of people out there who are willing to do the same. Don’t be strangers.

If you are interested in contributing to the magazine then please send your articles to the Magazine Editor, Aaron Dine: ajd77@cantab.net