Having suffered a re-occurrence of an injury I incurred 3 years ago, which made me virtually lame for 6 weeks, on top of the worry about a re-occurrence of the Achilles injury which has just taken me out of action for 5 weeks, I have had to contemplate the unthinkable ... is it time to hang up the whistle?
I am considering my options at the moment. I've chatted to friends and colleagues about it and I've been comforted by their comments about my desire to stay involved in the game, as an assessor at a higher level than the one I currently operate at. So my current plan is to see out this season as a Supply League Assistant referee but this may have to be curtailed if I don't feel I can meet the demands of the pace of the games to which I am appointed.
When the weather stops being as foul, I intend to start training on the track twice a week to keep my fitness up and protect against further injuries. When the nights get lighter then I will train on a field instead of the track. I certainly will not make myself available for games 5-6 days each week when the midweek fixtures kick off in late March and will restrict myself to a maximum of 3 games and 1 training session or 2 games and 2 training sessions.
If I suffer no further injuries I plan to register as a referee for next season but not as a Supply League Assistant. That will be my last season on the green stuff whatever happens and I will hang up my whistle in May 2011. If I decide that it is too much for me, then I will hang it up at the end of 2010.
If I decide to retire earlier, say at the end of this season, then I will be asking my Supply League if I can shadow an experienced assessor and perhaps offer my services to them for next season. If they agree, I may just retire completely from Saturday football at the end of this season and do one more season refereeing on the occasional Sunday.
The plans are pretty fluid at the moment and depend on appointments received (I'd be daft to reject a cup final if I was appointed to one), injuries incurred/aggravated, the response of my current/former Supply League to my offer of help and finally, the least of my worries, whether I am still enjoying refereeing.
When I went out on Sunday morning I really enjoyed myself and after a 5 week enforced break I savoured every single minute out in the middle, enjoying the fun with the players, admiring their skills and even having to make/sell close calls. I am going to miss that aspect of the game.
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