Dear club officer,
Refereeing is an excellent way of staying involved in Gaelic games and contributing to the growth of Gaelic games in Europe.
Please bring this mail to the attention of:
1. all club members - especially those who have finished playing or are approaching the end of their playing days!
2. people who have been involved in playing in the past but may not have been in touch for a while
3. current players, who are prepared to commit extra weekends to refereeing outside of their playing commitments
Refereeing in Europe
The
European Board strives to be self-sufficient and requires a panel of
qualified referees to officiate at games (football, hurling, ladies
football and camogie) across the continent. Without referees, no games
can take place, and our existing panel of referees barely managed to
cover all fixtures last year. Indeed as the number of teams grows, so
will the number of referees required.
We are also aware of the need to reduce the workload
of referees at tournaments as we cannot expect a referee to be
consistent and of a standard players expect if s/he has too many games
on the day. Ideally a referee should not have to referee for more than
2-3 hours on one day but many of our referees frequently exceed this
amount.
The European Board now has a team of recently
qualified Referee Tutors who have been trained by top referees in the
GAA and LGFA. In addition, we also have a team of mentors/assessors to
support current and new referees and help to improve standards over
time.
Initially, we try to appoint new referees to
officiate at tournaments alongside experienced referees who can act as
"mentors". Referees are normally appointed to tournaments based on
expressing their interest in particular venues (often in their own
region) and dates. Referees move on to refereeing outside their own
region and depending upon progress may eventually be appointed to
Pan-European Championships subject to assessment reports and gradings.
Referee travel costs are refunded (subject to certain limits) and they may also bring partners (travel expenses not covered) as host clubs are responsible for providing accommodation where necessary along with meals etc.
New Referees Training Courses
We
will shortly be organising a number of training courses for new
referees, which will also act as in-service "refresher" courses for
existing referees (referees must attend such a "refresher" course every
few years).
The courses will be organised in March/early April
and we are now seeking expressions of interest from those who would like
to referee and can commit to refereeing at least three tournaments per
year (in order to ensure value for money and as you will need to referee regularly to improve).
Depending upon interest, it is hoped to organise courses as follows:-
1. Spain - aimed at recruiting referees for the Iberian region and in Galicia
2. France - a French language course for referees all areas of France
3. Benelux/or other location (dependent on applicants) - general course for all those in other regions
Each
course will cover all codes over a weekend. Commencing with an
Introduction on Friday night, common elements (all codes) on Saturday
morning, GAA course on Saturday afternoon and LGFA on Sunday morning
with a brief rules & short fitness test at the end.
The Board will meet reasonable travel expenses (refunded after a referee officiates at a specified number of tournaments), accommodation and meals and supply training materials and a referee starter pack of rules books, cards, whistle etc.
No commitment is required at this stage, just an
expression of interest, and all you have to do is fill in this short
form, simply click on this link:-
NB:
Existing referees should also complete this form indicating when they
attended their last referee training under the heading "Experience"
Yours in sport,
Tony
Tony Bass
Secretary
