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Women turn up in force to train as referees!

Norville Young painted a bleak picture of the current amount of match officials, but was enthused by the turn out, especially from Women, at the first referee training session of 2012. Photo: Charlie Jackson/VINO
Young demonstrates one of the many facets of the Off Side Law to Ericka Fredericks with the help of Danny Joseph. Photo: Charlie Jackson/VINO
Young demonstrates one of the many facets of the Off Side Law to Ericka Fredericks with the help of Danny Joseph. Photo: Charlie Jackson/VINO
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI - After 90 minutes, no added time, no cards, but a whole lot of information with comprehensive questions and answers, the first session for five new recruits to the BVI Football Association Referee’s Department came to a close on Wednesday October 17, 2012.

Norville Young, who is now in charge of the Technical training for new and existing referee’s opened the first session which was attended by no less than three women and just two men, with a bleak but honest appraisal of the current situation “We are down to just 5 referees now and 3 of them are involved in teams. So we are very stretched especially when they, (the BVIFA) want to stage matches on both Tortola and VG,” Mr. Young stated.

The current Referees Department falls under the auspices of the Referees Committee which is headed by Humphrey Leue and is part of the BVIFA. The department replaced the defunct Referees Association as per a 2010 worldwide mandate from the Governing Body, FIFA and consists of Young, Alfred Reid, Lenroy Henry, Alex Green and Eldon Williams.

Young was, nevertheless, encouraged by the turnout and especially the enthusiasm being shown by the women. “With your participation and enthusiasm we will be able to fill the roles and ensure the games are run properly”

Allison Scatliffe admitted to knowing nothing about the game, but had been inspired to get involved as a player and an official by her son’s performances in the School League. “I’m willing to learn all I can,” and added, “when I saw my son score for Althea Scatliffe it inspired me.”

Ericka Frederick hasn’t played football since college, but has become interested as she likes sports. “I’m more involved in Track and Field, but I like all sports so I want to give it a try.”

Patience Joseph has been playing the game for just over a year with the HLSCC College team and also the Ballstars. “I just love the game,” she said.

Reid, who is also the acting General Secretary for the BVIFA, confirmed that there were another half a dozen women interested in becoming officials, including some who are based on VG.

Young then gave a brief overview of what would be expected from the participants as they embarked on the journey to officialdom, including training twice a month with both theory and practical sessions. “There is also a once a month physical test,” he explained, that consists of 6 x 40m and 20 x 150m runs. “Don’t worry, you get a chance to rest in-between,” he added “but you have to complete each 40m in 6 seconds and each 150m in just 30 seconds.”

Young went on to a show a short video presentation on some of the Laws of the game, telling the group that overall “there are 17 Laws in the handbook, but all referees abide by Law 18, which is the unwritten Law of Common Sense.”

Not surprisingly, the “Offside Law” created the most questions, but with the use of video and a quick demonstration Young was able to clearly show how to apply the rule especially as it applies to “interfering with play” and “when the ball is played, not when it is received.”

Young also stressed the importance of team work between the officials on match day “we are the 3rd team on the pitch,” he stressed “and therefore it’s important for us to communicate with each other.”

The training process has no time limit and will be ongoing for each prospective official until they are deemed ready to be in charge of matches, whether it is as a 4th official, an assistant referee or the actual referee.

The interest being shown by women is fantastic news for the development of the sport as a whole, but only two men showing up was a bit of a surprise, especially as so many men watching, coaching or playing the game seem to have an opinion on how a game should be refereed!

It is often described a s a thankless task, but without sufficient, dedicated people to run on match days then football runs the real danger of fading into insignificance as a recognized sport. So without a doubt there has to be more ex-players or more “coaches” who could turn to blowing the whistle and making sure “the beautiful game” continues to progress.

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