Over the next four weeks, the Toolstation Western League
will be running a campaign to promote the contribution that match officials
make to football at every level of the game, not just the Western League.
Using the Western League Podcast, website and social media
channels, this campaign will look at the motivation for officials to get
involved with the game, what they get out of their participation, as well as
what they find most frustrating.
Headlining with a serialised interview with Martin Cassidy
the CEO of Ref Support UK, a registered charity created by referees and Trustees who have all officiated on the Western
League. Ref Support provide
referees with independent support, separate from the Football Association. The
charity doesn’t receive any funding from any of footballs governing bodies,
enabling them to challenge organisations like the FA when needed, as well as
supporting match officials with training both on and off the pitch.
In the interview for the Western League Podcast, Martin
applauded the League for being the first in the country to approach Ref Support
“for some independent help and
support, because we won’t just take the referees side.” Martin explained the
charity provides consultancy for Clubs on a variety of aspects of the game
including match reports from referees, dismissals and yellow cards.
Martin was keen to
stress that “we are never going to say that every referee is perfect for the
level they operate at. Some referees react too quickly, some referees haven’t
had the soft skills training on how to deal with confrontation and those skills
aren’t taught by the FA at grassroots level. We believe that concentrating on
those first and getting soft skills to a level that can improve your
communication with players and club officials really, really helps.”
The campaign will
also include contributions from Western League match officials like
Midsomer Norton’s Andrew Hobbs, who got into refereeing after he gave up
playing, on the advice of his friend, the late Mark Box. Andrew enjoys the opportunity
to contribute to the game he loves but is sad to see officials being
abused every week.
Ultimately, Ref Support and the Toolstation Western League
want to see more people take up officiating. Martin Cassidy explains the
benefits he’s got from refereeing, “I can go into the pubs in Bristol and bump
in to a player or manager and have a pint and you can make some wonderful
long-term friendships. I would advise anybody to get off of their Playstation,
get off the couch and get out and take a referees course. It’s a great way to
increase social engagement improve your soft skills and just to meet people who
are footballs lovers, just like you.”
If you are interested in becoming a match official then
contact your County FA to find out more. The Toolstation Western League Podcast
is available weekly, on itunes, as well as http://toolstationleague.com/. The
Leagues social media accounts can be found @TSWesternLeague. As part of the
campaign to support match officials, fans are being asked to use #Lovethewhistle
in any football related social media posts.
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