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Visualise game situations as match preparation
It’s not over yet with tips I got from the referee conference. I will share a longer blog post with rugby referee Alain Rolland’s story later. Now you’ll get one tip you will benefit from every game. Rolland’s advice: visualise game situations as match preparation. Ever wondered why top referees look so calm on the pitch? “Some referees look so comfortably because they know what they’re doing”, Rolland says. And to be able to “read the game” a referee “needs to visualise game situations”, Rolland says. “Think about what to say during a match and how to say it.” How is the Irish World Cup final referee doing that? He’s…
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Referee Mark Halsey’s road to recovery
Referee Mark Halsey got cancer … and beat it. I got the chance to meet him personally and wrote some tips from him below. The crowd of referees was silent when Halsey told his personal story at the referee conference in Dublin. He told us about the moment he heared he got throat cancer and how he recovered from it. “It’s amazing what you can achieve”, he says with a smile. Want to read the full story of his recovery? Then get is book Added Time: Surviving Cancer, Death Threats and the Premier League. Halsey pointed out 5 characteristics that helped him get back on the pitch again. These things are…
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Coach educates pupils to respect the referee
Every referee experiences it: coaches that yell at you. But luckily not every coach is like that. I found this video on YouTube a coach educates pupils to respect the referee. He has some wise lessons for his pupils. The bottom line: respect the referee. Here are his lessons and I hope many coaches will teach this to their pupils: “We can’t control the opponent or the official. But we can control our reaction.” “It’s very important to respect the referee.” “As captain you can be respectful to the ref. If you are a captain and are disrespectful, you can get a card as well.” “Most referees make only 1…
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Roberto Payer’s life lessons for referees
That story has some lessons which would be helpful for referees, is what I thought after reading the interview with Robert Payer in Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. He’s the general manager of hotels Waldorf Astoria and Hilton Amsterdam. Payer grew up in Italy and worked his way up from servant to general manager. In the section “Life lessons” he talks about things he learned and helped him in his career. Below I’ve worked out three of quotes and how referees can learn from that. Ambition and hard work “Too many people want to earn a lot of money, but don’t want to work hard for that.” Payer says he started…
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Tips from an FA Tutor: Managing Corner Kicks
Dutch Referee Blog got lucky that Stephen Green, referee and L4 FA tutor from Reading, wants to share some of his tips with my readers. Thanks for that, much appreciated. His first post is: “Tips from an FA Tutor: Managing Corner Kicks” Throughout my refereeing career I have always found corner kicks some of the most difficult situations to manage. It is not unusual to have 15 to 18 players in, or immediately around, one penalty area. Here are a few tips that have helped me: Take up a position with as many players in view as possible. Make sure that you have an unobstructed view of the goalkeeper…
