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REFEREE PROGRAM
GETS A BIG BOOST
(Article taken from the Toronto Sun
- Friday 22nd August 2003)
Refereeing has always been regarded as the
less desirable choice of the three on-field professions i.e. that of
playing or coaching, however that may start to change thanks to the
recent commitment by The OSA to throw major support behind referee
development in the province of Ontario. It’s no secret that much
consternation results from inconsistent officiating from week to week
and more often than not it is not of the referee’s doing. Soccer is
much to blame for not properly preparing these referees for the job
that they have to do.
First and foremost the system does not
encourage officials to want to upgrade their skill because the pyramid
does not enforce appointing the class of official with the level of
play and then rewarding them accordingly. That may come to an end
this fall as The OSA’s Board of Directors reviews different ideas to
ensure equity in the appointment program.
The bigger issue though rested with the
faulty concept that officials can be trained to officiate through
theoretical training followed by experience with little to no
practical training required.
This has never been more noticeable than
in the competitive game with no base of younger candidates coming up
the ranks, probably not unlike a lot of sports including our sister
sport hockey and the chronic shortage of officials able to manage the
higher levels of play.
Similar to the Regional Player Development
Training Centres concept, the referee program will also support a
large base of younger class 3’s regionally with on-going technical
support to help them up grade themselves to a level of competence that
commensurate with their ability.
There is a base of approximately 2,500
referees of which 500 referees fall into this group that would like to
be part of a system that pushes them along much like what is starting
to happen at the B Licence level in coaching.
It’s an exciting new initiative for The
OSA whose membership has been critical of aspects of officiating over
the years but never to the point of wanting to do something about
fixing it.
The project will eventually be an
encouragement to some of the 7,500 C4’s at the lower end of the game
that are looking to pursue a career in officiating.
The OSA is evaluating a significant budget
increase to support this initiative looking to finalize all the
details at its fall meeting.
However, that is a due diligence measure
not to take away from the many young referees in Ontario who can now
get excited about a welcomed major change in how referee development
will be supported in Ontario.
It’s also an incentive to the many senior
players in Ontario that have a good working knowledge of the game who
now have a choice much like coaching.
It’s a tremendous leadership skill to be a
competent referee at the higher levels of the game in Ontario.
This is a boost in refereeing that I am
sure many officials will say was long overdue, but nevertheless it is
a boost to the referee program.
Brian Avey
Executive Director
The Ontario Soccer Association
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