Will we see fewer referees in the local
men's leagues next season? I hope not but I ask this because one new policy from the FA has made some of the older referees question whether they are going to carry on.
This new policy is being introduced for the best of reasons and will in due course be ingrained in the game and refereeing. What is this new policy?
Child Protection. In future all referees must undertake a Child Protection course and undergo checks by the Criminal Records Bureau. This is of course not an attack on referees. CRB checks are being carried out throughout the country for anyone with access to children and the FA is determined to be in the forefront of this movement.
For someone like myself who, because I'm available mid-week, often get called up by the English Schools FA, there can be no objection to attending such courses or being submitted to a check to ensure that my past doesn't show I could be a danger to children. In fact, as a referee instructor, I attended a Child Protection course over three years ago and have since had to attend another as my certificate was out of date. It is those referees who only referee
men's football on a Saturday and/or Sunday, who tend to feel that this new regulation is totally unnecessary and an infringement.
There have been claims by critics of the scheme that over sixteen hundred referees throughout the country may not bother to re-register at the start of next season. I think, I hope, this will not happen. For the few, who were thinking of giving up anyway, it might be the spur to retire from the game but one or two I have spoken to, who originally thought that it was an imposition they weren't going to accept, have now come around to a more conciliatory frame of mind.
One little niggle has recently been removed. Although referees must pay for attending the Child Protection courses, the fee for the Criminal Records Bureau check has been removed and this will now be met by the FA.
Apart from ensuring that referees are not likely to behave abusively, the courses are intended to inform referees what constitutes abuse against children. Not only that, but they are encouraged to report any instances they may encounter while refereeing. They discover that sometimes what is considered abuse, is not always what you might traditionally think.
I went to watch one of our new young referees take his first game, which happened to be an under-12 girls match. Somewhere good for a fourteen year old to start. What shocked me was the attitude of one of the team's coach, who shouted at the girls, often belittling their efforts. As someone who believes encouragement works better than criticism, I thought it appalling behaviour. If I'd been one of those girls, I wouldn't have turned up for the game next week. I was told I should have reported the coach for abuse.
OK, but another instance was when I saw an under-14 boys team help set up the goals, which couldn't be left out during the week because of vandalism. Again I was told that this could constitute child abuse, but to me it was something to be encouraged. Anything that involves the children in their clubs and makes them realise that everything doesn't just happen, must be good not bad.
I said that this new policy may deter some older referees but it may help keep some of the younger ones refereeing. Shouting abuse at referees under
18 by club officials, or even spectators, may well be considered a breach of the Child Protection laws. So it could put an end to one of the greatest deterrents for young referees at youth games.