[Junior] Appointment

[Arabcheif]

Fellow refs, I've had my 1st appointment from my society. It's an U-16 match. It's a few weeks away so I'll be familiarising myself with the U-19 variations between now and then. Any other advice as to how to interact with the boys?

 

[Flish]

They’ll often want to be treat like men (but aren’t) if any form of heat in the game then use time to your advantage and let heads cool down. Other than that enjoy, U16 can equally be one of the most respectful and attentive age groups, help them with what you want if you can.

 

[crossref]

Good luck !
Don't tell them it's your first game

Rehearse in your head your PMB and your routine, so that it's fluent

Think about the kick off and imagine in your head all the different scenarios and what the decision is .. the idea is to get off to a good start , whatever happens you are not surprised by it

 

[Decorily]

Is this your 1st ever game?

 

[Dickie E]

Use the captains. At that age they may be used to the coach making all the decisions. Let the captains know you'll be expecting to see their onfield leadership. Find out if they are the regular captain (good) or just drew the short straw this week (bad).

 

[SimonSmith]

Maintain standards.

Some referees, when they have Ladies or Youth, tend to lower standards and allow things that they wouldn't for adult men. "Ach, it's kids..." seems to be the mindset.

I have 2 issues with that:
1. It's a great way to let a game get away from you.
2. It's disrespectful: they deserve your best game, and you can help make their game better.

Oh - and don't stand for backchat.

 

[Rich_NL]

U16 can be a delight or a nightmare, depending on the ratio of hormones:technique.

All good advice here. Don't get drawn into arguments or tolerate disrespect/unsportsmanlike behaviour, keep standards up, be firm but fair. Two of my best games last year were that age group

 

[beckett50]

Be aware of 'sledging' and stamp on it early. I would suggest covering it at the PMB with the Captains as then you have the reason to PK the first occurrence.

This type of verbal thuggery can lead to flash points that you don't need. It is unsportsmanlike and unwarranted in our game. Even the Australians have stopped doing it (although they have not stopped winning the Ashes :sad

 

[didds]

As a coach of U16 age groups in recent years...

lots of good advice above !

* DO treat it as a real game
* DO NOT back off cos "its only kids"
* DO bone up on the U16 regs/laws (and I see you are )
* Tolerate NO shit of ANY type.
* SMILE. JOKE - when appropriate.
* DONT'T be a school master - but be very firm and explain appropriately.

And of course enjoy it. Expect the pace of the game to be high, but quite a lot of tunrover. (This is generalising - some U16 squads are better than senior men!)

But really, really do understand what is a scrum, what is a FK, what is a PK. Possibly the worst reffing display I saw last year was a coach/ref that just awarded FKs for almost everything. He gave the impression of being out of his depth, to the extent that many of our players were asking us (their coaches) why a knock-on was now a FK and why offside was a FK etc etc because they were confused OR thought/knew the ref was wrong and was a twat. (we did our best to keep them focused!).

Have a great game. You have the advantage that you are still an active player and there for within a low multiple of their own age ;-)

didds

 

[SimonSmith]

Out of interest, is this club or School? It may make a difference.

 

[Arabcheif]

@ Decorily - it's my 2nd ever game. My first was an inter club friendly over the close season. But this will be my first competitive match to ref.
@SimonSmith - It's U-16 Club match.

@Dids - I may make 1 or 2 boo boos in that regard for Fk offences but I'm ok with what are Srum offences and what are PK offences. These tend to be most of what I see when playing.

@Beckett50 - "Sledging?" not heard that term before. Can you shed some light please?

 

[OB..]

@Beckett50 - "Sledging?" not heard that term before. Can you shed some light please?

Sledging is a term used in cricket to describe the practice whereby some players seek to gain an advantage by insulting or verbally intimidating the opposing player. The purpose is to try to weaken the opponent's concentration, thereby causing them to make mistakes or underperform.[SUP][1][/SUP] It can be effective because the batsman stands within hearing range of the bowler and certain close fielders; and vice versa. The insults may be direct or feature in conversations among fielders designed to be overheard. The term has also been used in other sports, as when the tennis player Nick Kyrgios insulted his opponent, Stan Wawrinka, by referring to a purported encounter between another player and the latter's girlfriend

Wikipedia

 

[SimonSmith]

The reason I ask.

I've done U16 Club and U16 School. This may be an unfortunate generalization (West of Scotland and Eastern Counties)

Schools tend to have better leadership at Captain. Kings Ely when I reffed them at U18 had one of the best Cs I've worked with - decisive, respectful, and had the command of his troops. The Club captains...less so.

Unfortunate truth: Private Schools tend to have better leaders on field

 

[Decorily]

I actually believe that 'Captains' only start to 'exist' at U16s and I wouldn't be placing too much trust in them.


A good level of U16s game can be far better than a low level adult game....
Not to be taken for granted! !

 

[TigerCraig]

Fellow refs, I've had my 1st appointment from my society. It's an U-16 match. It's a few weeks away so I'll be familiarising myself with the U-19 variations between now and then. Any other advice as to how to interact with the boys?

Interesting that you are appointed to U16 in your first game

In Sydney you would have to have been refereeing at least a year, probably 2, before you go to that age group - they would generally start an adult ref with U13 or so

For 16A's you would have to be one of the top dozen or so junior rugby referees in Sydney (we have separate societies and gradings for referees who do junior and senior games)

 

[Pinky]

Interesting that you are appointed to U16 in your first game

In Sydney you would have to have been refereeing at least a year, probably 2, before you go to that age group - they would generally start an adult ref with U13 or so

For 16A's you would have to be one of the top dozen or so junior rugby referees in Sydney (we have separate societies and gradings for referees who do junior and senior games)

I think Arabchief is talking about his first society appointment and in Scotland these are normally adult (men and women) (not the top level) league and cup games and U18 league and cup games and, I think, U16 cup games.

 

[TigerCraig]

I think Arabchief is talking about his first society appointment and in Scotland these are normally adult (men and women) (not the top level) league and cup games and U18 league and cup games and, I think, U16 cup games.

Ok, I read it as being the first real game he had refereed.

 

[Decorily]

@ Decorily - it's my 2nd ever game. My first was an inter club friendly over the close season. But this will be my first competitive match to ref.
@SimonSmith - It's U-16 Club match.

2nd ever game for him.

 

[TigerCraig]

2nd ever game for him.

Thought so

Like I said, here an U16 would be your 20-30th game at least, after numerous coaching and assessment observations

 

[didds]

Thought so

Like I said, here an U16 would be your 20-30th game at least, after numerous coaching and assessment observations

I bet Ben Stokes could manage it.

didds