FAMOA Development Evening

It's always disappointing when there's a poor turn-out for any event, especially when that event happens to be the County FA's Development Evening being run in conjunction with FAMOA. It may have been the low key promotion via the County website, it may have been the day of the week (Mondays are never good) or possibly the timing, just as the season was getting underway when evening fixtures take higher priority. Whatever it was, those who stayed away missed out on an evening packed with practical advice and the opportunity to "get up close and personal" with the Referee Development Team based at Fleet Lane.

In a change from previous events when key note speakers have rolled into town, delivered a high powered presentation and then moved on to their next venue, this was very much an event geared towards the majority of referees. It was aimed at those who ply their trade on their own, on council owned fields with little more than their own experience and knowledge to help them effectively carry out their role as guardians of the Laws of the Game.

The evening opened with a review of the achievements of the referees in the County. At the top of the list was the appointment of two West Riding referees as the men in the middle for the FA Cup semi finals. Martin Atkinson and Mike Riley had the honour of leading their teams out to look after those prestigious fixtures. Martin went one step further when he took on the role of the 4th Official for the Final itself just a few weeks later. Mike has also moved on a step too having recently hung up his whistle in readiness for his new role with Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO).

Other successes were recounted such as Dave Richardson's appearance on the line at the same final, the continuance of the meteoric rise of the Madley brothers from Ossett and the progress of the County in continuing to recruit new referees as well as support those just starting out their careers. A worthy footnote was added concerning the contribution made by Steve Rhodes, the County's Referee Development Officer, the coaches at the Referee Academy at Thorp Arch and the County's experienced group of match referee assessors.

Enough of looking back, though, it was soon time to look forward to the new season and the delegates were soon asked to consider their contribution to the Respect programme. The session opened with a hard hitting video backed by the Foo Fighters track, The Great Pretender. It was followed up by a thought provoking 25 minute session covering showing respect for the game, key moments and how we, as referees react to them, managing players and the key skills involved in doing so. I had been asked to deliver this session at short notice and fortunately I had a similar presentation already prepared for the Basic Course for New Referees. So Blue Peter moment aside (Here's one I prepared earlier ...), I finished with another short video showing celebrity players trying to play football without a referee but includes some terrible acting from the FA's finest, Howard Webb and Fabio Capello!

I handed over to Ken Haycock, County Training Officer, who took the audience through some typical situations relating to dealing with confrontation. It wasn't the usual "in your face" confrontation referees have to deal with all too often on the field of play, but instead it was the more insidious "Not you again" comment so often muttered by a club secretary, a player who has received a caution in a previous game or possibly just a spectator. The audience were asked to consider each situation in turn and their responses were captured and with the wide range of experience in the room, it presented a great learning opportunity for the less experienced to prepare themselves for the next time someone says to them, "Not you again ref!"

Having held the audience captive for nearly an hour, it was time to get them out of their seats, moving around on their feet and into some workshops. In the first we split the audience into two groups and put them to work looking at the key considerations they would have as referees when dealing with free kicks in different areas of the field of play. This led to some healthy debate and the opportunity for a recently qualified 14 year old referee, Gavin Johnston, to shine as he brought the practical experience from his course into his group. He showed great confidence in talking in front of a group of more experienced match officials and assessors.

In the other group, things became quite heated as current match officials, Jason Payne and Chris Payne (no relation), verbally jousted with County FA Council members over the management of an attacking free kick around the penalty area. It was re-assuring to see many of our more experienced assessors in this group sharing their knowledge freely, even if voices did have to be raised to be heard among the side discussions taking place!

Once the dust had settled, the groups were moved on to the next workshop where they considered the factors which would influence the playing of advantage in different areas of the field of play, defence, midfield and attack. Once more the more experienced assessors shared their knowledge however they didn't manage their time very well and got stuck on just one of the three scenarios they were asked to cover. The other group stuck to the task and as it was brought to a close, they put the finishing touches to some excellent points.

The audience re-united back in the main room and were treated to an introductory talk from one of the County's most recent recruits in the form of Roger Furnandiz, former Football League referee. Roger took the audience through the highlights of his career before giving them some pointers on various aspects of refereeing. Meanwhile back in one of the workshop rooms, Ken and I were furiously pulling out the learning points from the two workshops. When Roger had finished his stint, Ken and I delivered them back to the audience.

The evening was wrapped up by Barry Chaplin, Chairman of the Referee's Committee and the audience adjourned to the bar leaving the presenters to clear up. As I mentioned at the opening of this piece, the numbers who turned out for this event were disappointing but I'm sure that those who did, went away with at least one thing they can try this season that will enhance their game control and hopefully help them enjoy their football a little more in 2009-10.

As for those who missed out on the event at County HQ, the evening is being taken on a roadshow around the County to give it a more local feel. Hopefully it will call at a town near you and you can have the chance to join in the fun. I believe the first event is in Huddersfield on August 20th, so if you've nothing more pressing, Get Into refereeing ...