The bulletin for all referees – October 2012 RA News Digest QUEST (QUality – Excellence – STandard) With the ever-increasing QUEST for refereeing standards to improve at all levels in English football, the RA has an increasingly important role to play. England's top officials regularly pay tribute to The RA’s contribution to their success and well-being and demonstrate their views by the support given to RA events at all levels from local Society meetings through to The RA Conference. Maintaining the wonderful success of English refereeing in recent years requires a healthy grassroots membership which seeks the very best training and development to ensure their progress and personal enjoyment. With this in mind, The RA is launching QUEST to ALL local Societies and Associations. This is a unique opportunity to share and improve standards of refereeing. It will offer recognition to every local Society/Association within a structured framework which allows it to develop at its own speed, regardless of size and location. The QUEST scheme will be independently verified (including County Football Association input) and will be “a real partnership” which will impact locally and nationally to help raise standards and enable the membership to raise the quality of what they are offered. The RA has played a critical role in refereeing in England for over 100 years - QUEST will allow ALL Society/ Associations to flourish in the future and thus continue to contribute significantly to our national game at all levels. Further communications will be issued telling how QUEST can help you. In the meantime, the Board is seeking a small panel of members willing to take part in the verification process, headed by someone who is familiar with and understands Documented Quality Systems, has some audit experience and be able to define the submissions from a technical point of view. If you are interested in helping in this small way, please contact the Digest editor. Head Office Team CONTENTS Tom Nield at the Paralympics Phil Joslin - General Manager Pre-match at Meetings Promotion Tips Karen Vince – Administration Officer Board Election Andy Stickley – Supplies Officer Tel: 02476 420364 Board of Inquiry Misconduct Reporting UNIT 12, ENSIGN BUSINESS CENTRE, WESTWOOD Supplies WAY, WESTWOOD BUSINESS PARK, WESTWOOD RA-FA Events HEATH, COVENTRY. CV4 8JA RA Quiz Tel: 02476 420360 Fax: 02477 677234 Advertising & Sponsorship North Herts & Denmark Exchange E-mail: [email protected] Yorkshire Air Ambulance Website: www.refereesassociation.co.uk Membership Report Physiocare The RA Digest is edited by Colin Harris RA-FA Incentive Scheme [email protected] Schwan’s USA Cup Is Digest the right name? National Museum of Football EDITOR’S NOTE National Awards I apologise that the October Digest has been delayed but I assure you that the December issue will be published early enough in December for Secretaries to forward it to members and anyone else who they believe might be interested, as the Digest should be regarded as an aid for recruitment of referees as Full members of the RA. I will be pleased to receive articles for publication, with photos where possible and especially anything seasonal, to: [email protected] TOM NIELD at the PARALYMPICS No doubt you will have read the article on Paraylmpic football by National List referee Keith Stroud in the latest issue of ‘Refereeing’. Print deadlines for that publication came before the announcement that Keith would referee the Gold Medal match of the Cerebral Palsy tournament - Ukraine v Russia - and that one of his Assistant Referees was Tom Nield of Huddersfield and Heavy Woollen RA branches, who is Chairman of the RA-FA Youth Council. Our congratulations go to them both, as well as to 4th Official Scott Henry. Tom writes about his experiences:- “After being in the Olympic park and village for just a few hours, I found the vibe and feeling to be extraordinary and it is very difficult to put these feelings and emotions into words. A typical match day, assuming I had an appointment to a morning fixture, started at 6.30am, when we met as a group at the dining hall for breakfast. We would arrive at the Riverbank Arena in good time, around 7.30am, before preparing for the game and carrying out the usual pre-match duties. As the games were being televised, our arrival into the arena was managed in conjunction with Channel 4, before the National Anthems were played and the game got underway. After the game we would go into the Paralympic family lounge for post match hospitality and to observe the second match of the day, before lunch was brought to the match officials’ lounge at around 12.30pm. Afternoon fixtures would follow, which we would usually be on at least one game in some capacity. If we did not have an appointment, we were able to go and watch other events with our access all areas accreditation! At 5pm we would return to the Olympic Park, taking our kits and uniforms to the onsite laundry, before going for dinner. Tom in his Paralympic outfit. The evenings tended to be fairly relaxed and activities varied from attending the evening athletics sessions or the nearby shopping centre. Rest days could be used however we wished, but we all agreed that we would train at the Riverbank Arena to maintain our fitness levels and help familiarise ourselves with the tricky surface. We stayed in the same accommodation as the athletes so there were always Paralympians around the village, including David Weir, Ellie Simmonds and Oscar Pistorius. Notable non-athletes who we saw included members of the Royal family, Lord Coe, Sir Trevor Brooking and others. It was a massive honour and a lifetime achievement just to be selected and be part of the London 2012 games. However, the technical meeting on Friday 7 September was a bit special, when they read out the appointments for the Gold Medal match. I never expected or imagined to receive an appointment to the Final. I had already received a 4th official appointment for the 5th v 6th place game in the morning, so I thought that would be it for the day. To have received any game on the final day was a great achievement, given that there were some excellent national and international referees at the tournament. When it was announced that I would be assisting Keith Stroud for the final match, the feeling was unbelievable and something I will remember for the rest of my life. The game went well with no controversy and no decisions from the officials that affected the outcome. It was a close affair, with Russia winning 1-0. My lasting memory of the games will be the Paralympians and the friends I made with some great referees during the tournament. Also, the fact that I played a small part in inspiring a generation, as London 2012 and Lord Coe had aimed to achieve. All the referees at the tournament were great to be around and they made the experience the best possible. To watch the Paralympians master and overcome their disability, achieving unbelievable success on an international stage, The Paralympic refereeing team. was a real honour and very inspiring. These people are amazing role models for everyone and a clear example of what can be achieved, even in what might seem the most impossible of circumstances. The Youth Council held its second meeting on Sunday 16 September. It was hosted by Nottinghamshire FA and considerable progress was reported on the various projects undertaken. It has also been reported that whilst only half of the members original selected for the Council were full members of the RA, that is now 100%. You can keep up to date with the project work of the Council at http://prezi.com/user/RA-FAYthCouncil/ or on Twitter at @RAFAYthCouncil PRE-MATCH MEETINGS by the Editor Prior to two consecutive Contributory League matches I recently assessed on, I heard referees providing their ARs with instructions based on things they had heard at recent RA meetings. The first, a member of Witney RA, has since told me about the structure of their meetings where they tend briefly to essential business at the start, followed by match incidents, from which he says he learns much, then a break before the guest speaker. Witney have referees at their meetings from all levels, who share things they have seen or encountered on the field, including former Premier League referee Dennis Hedges who acts as ‘devil’s advocate’ in order to stimulate further debate. It is noticeable that Witney is one of the small number which have held a very consistent level of membership over the years There are probably a lot of people around the country like Dennis who would no doubt be willing to pass on their vast experience at the top level. Do you have someone like that in your area; if so, is he a member and has he ever been invited along to meetings to share those experiences? Do not waste the experience of people like this, as well as assessors and others who no doubt would gladly continue in membership after they hang up their whistles. Why not delegate a member to phone round these people in the area to ask them to come along to meetings? The likely benefits of input from the right people are enormous. The second occasion I refer to was where the three officials were from the same RA branch which met the Thursday prior to the match I assessed. The referee had picked up a point regarding positioning from a guest speaker which he put into practise at the match, knowing that his colleagues had heard the same advice.