Getting a referee ethos going in a club

[mike_fernlea]

All

What do you guys do to get an active spirit of refereeing going in a club? We have a large club with about 15-20 active referees including 3 or 4 society members. We've tried a number of things to get a collective group thing going without much success, and normally only the same 3 or 4 faces show up every time.

Any thoughts or ideas on how to get everyone to come together and see ourselves us a group, such as coaches or other active volunteers do? I was thinking that I should see this as a long term project and go round and introduce myself to the minis age groups and maybe give a little talk to each one about what's involved as I as fear that the guys in the U13s and above maybe set in their ways

Any suggestions welcome

Cheers

Mike

 

[Simon Thomas]

Ealing did this a few years ago in the Youth section and were followed by other Middlesex clubs like harrow.

We have a few clubs in Hampshire who have very active club associations too across Adult, youth and mini sections. We encourage Society Refs to engage with such initiatives, but you need a focal point as CrefC (RFU for ClubRefereeCoordinator) - we have some of those or ex-ones on here !

Similar story up in Manchester and Liverpool where club associations and clusters were set up for youth rugby.

Suggest you contact the RFU Training Manager and your CB RDO plus Bob Ockenden at London Society.

 

[crossref]

Hi Mike
I am a CRefC and your post chimes with me. But don't lose heart.
First set your sights right, I don't think a club ref section can ever duplicate a society,.. It stands to reason, everyone who wants the whole society deal will join it. But you can still create a refs group identity. I will pm you with some ideas that seem to have worked for me

 

[Simon Thomas]

Hi Mike
I am a CRefC and your post chimes with me. But don't lose heart.
First set your sights right, I don't think a club ref section can ever duplicate a society,.. It stands to reason, everyone who wants the whole society deal will join it. But you can still create a refs group identity. I will pm you with some ideas that seem to have worked for me

Oops

Should have said like Harrow and Twickenham RFC

 

[ddjamo]

bribery and blackmail was the only thing I could get to work during my tenure in michigan. :smile:

- - - Updated - - -

is that the appropriate smiley to show I'm joking?

 

[Phil E]

Any thoughts or ideas on how to get everyone to come together and see ourselves us a group,

I find free food and Beer usually do the trick?

 

[RobLev]

bribery and blackmail was the only thing I could get to work during my tenure in michigan. :smile:

- - - Updated - - -

is that the appropriate smiley to show I'm joking?

It does just enough to buy you plausible deniability :biggrin:

 

[mike_fernlea]

Thanks guys. Some ideas to be going on with.

No substitute for hard work, I think and getting out there and meeting people

Cheers

 

[Dixie]

Hi Mike

The fluid nature of the age group laws is your friend. If you offer to set up a group, people who see themselves as simply helping out their child's age group may not be bothered to join it. But if you don't tell them about the group, and simply offer them support to make them better U.14 refs, or to facilitate the transition to U.15, then they will likely jump. In time, you can introduce them to each other and build an ethos by stealth.

 

[crossref]

the great lever that helps me in my club is the League system.
from U13 upwards our age groups participate in Leagues (as well as friendlies). tey will have three or four home league games.

for a league game the referee can be a club ref but NOT anyone connected to the age group.

this system is my friend : everyone can immediately see that the only way this can work is if our club referees are prepared to step outside their age group, and that's the first step to feeling like a 'proper' ref, and also to feeling like you are part of the club as a whole, and not just your own age group (age groups can otherwise be very insular)

 

[L'irlandais]

Local club had some sucess getting large numbers of U15/U17/U19's involved/qualified to ref' mini/midi/maxi games. A few of these lads got the bug and have progressed to reffin' U19 games too. A couple of others from that group went towards coaching underage/ladies rugby.

 

[mark.lucas]

We run quarterly coaches' meetings, typically on a Friday evening with a free curry provided and the bar open. We get 40 odd youth coaches to these - Youth Player Membership is 400+.

Each meeting has a specific topic, as well as general housekeeping etc. We use one to focus on refereeing. We are lucky to have a Society Member and Observer who gives a one hour version of the ELRA which is enough to get a few coaches out there with a whistle for home games and so start their development realising they have a support network available - the biggest fear for a new ref is screwing up and we have all done it. He and a few others also also observe others (typically from older age groups to younger age groups - we have the scars!) to provide local support. So similar to a Society model but less structured / formal.

If you want more info / copy of the slides then PM me.