Referee

New Referee Recruits 2018

At the end of an initial year-long partnership with Specsavers to support the development of football referees in the island, the Guernsey Football Association has delivered another Basic Referees Course, which was attended by ten new referee recruits.

The partnership with Specsavers has included various elements to the development programme, which have been aimed at recruiting, retaining and developing the referee workforce. The most recent initiative, was the recent delivery of a Basic Referees training course for potential new referees with ten aspiring officials undertaking the course. Those aspiring referees included three adults and seven aged under 16 with Guernsey FA Director, and Referees Committee Officer, James Falla, commenting that:

‘It’s not surprising that our latest course again attracted a number teenagers interested in becoming a referee as this is the trend in the UK but it is equally pleasing that we have also had some adults attend the course.  Having refereed for almost 20 years myself I have an insight in what refereeing can provide and I hope that our ten new recruits enjoy the challenge that refereeing undoubtedly gives you, along with the opportunity to put something back into football, and hope that they progress far with the whistle. The opportunities exist for enthusiastic and talented referees to progress all the way to the top of the local game – in our case refereeing cup finals, age-group Murattis and being referee’s assistant on the Muratti Vase final itself

The GFA will continue to deliver a referee development programme as it seeks to build its numbers of active referees, both to support the growth of the game in the Guernsey FA Leagues and with an eye to the longer-term development of officials for the 2021 Island Games in the island.

‘We would like to thank Specsavers for its support for refereeing in Guernsey. The GFA does not underestimate the value and importance of referees and is keen to support the existing workforce whilst also identifying and training new volunteers. Football would not be possible without referees and we are fortunate in Guernsey to have a small but committed team who officiate at all levels, from the Under 12 Corbet Cup through to the Priaulx League,’ said GFA Director, Phil Sykes. ‘The Association is delighted with the support of Specsavers, such a prominent brand within Guernsey, which has enabled the GFA to be able to give something back to our current officials in terms of their ongoing development, and also to look at ways of encouraging more people to get involved and train as a referee.’

For more information about getting into refereeing, contact Geoff Ogier on:

Email - Geoff.Ogier@guernseyfa.com  

Tel - 01481 200443