The first stop on the way to becoming a referee is to attend a basic Referees Course. This will involve around 8 classroom-based training sessions, followed by a written and oral exam, on the Laws of Association Football. On passing the examinations, you become a Level 8 referee if you are under 16 years of age or Level 7 referee if you are over 16. You may then officiate local amateur ("parks") football.
If you wish to become a Level 6 referee you must serve at least one year at Level 7 before being eligible for promotion. Promotion is decided through assessment, attendance at further training, successful completion of a test on the Laws of the game and a satisfactory average mark achieved in a set number of games. They must referee at least 20 matches (including this set number) during one marking period. Other factors including administration are also taken into account.
The same criteria would apply for promotion to Level 5, although a senior game must also be officiated and 5 further games as an assistant referee must be completed in the promotion season.
An assessment is when a registered County FA assessor (normally a retired referee) watches you referee and provides you with a constructive report on your performance. Assessors also send a confidential mark on the copy of the report which is sent to the County FA.
Level 5 referees may then be eligible for promotion to more senior competitions. This would involve refereeing in a 'supply league - Level 4', and being an assistant referee in a 'Contributory League - Level 3'. Further promotion would take you on to a 'Panel League - Level 2' and eventually, on to the 'National list of Referees - Level 1'.
The final promotion would be on to the International List, where the FA currently has 10 referees. However, to remain at these levels a fitness test must be passed before each season commences.
The standard fitness test (up to Level 4) involves:
- Two runs of 50m each in less than 7.5 seconds
- A minimum distance run of at least 2,500m in 12 minutes of continuous running.
The minimum age to be registered as a referee is 14. Junior Referees aged 14-15 may only officiate in competitions where the players are under 16. The minimum age for promotion to Level 5 is currently 17.
To find out more, contact Barry Knight at barry.knight@norfolkfa.com or on 01603 704050.
|