Own team

[crossref]

Do we agree that refereeing your own club can work with no problems, but is a risk and therefore in general best avoided?

exactly, so.

Neutral refs work better. This is, indeed, precisely why Societies were formed.

At age-group level club-refs have the advantage that this is, at least, normal practice and everyone is expecting to see a club-ref.
If two adult teams meet for a league game they are expecting to see a society ref. A ref from the home club is therefore slightly on the back-foot from the start.

In general I can't see why any benefit from a ref belonging to one club. Yes it's managable, but I why choose it if other options are available?

 

[winchesterref]

I did my club in a pre-season game. I didn't have any issues, I ref what I see. As far as I know neither side had complaints.

Would not be given them to do in a competitive game for a few years yet, mainly to avoid any potential problems. Can be done but - as noted - best avoided if possible - I would say more so in development years.

 

[Account Deleted]

Do we agree that refereeing your own club can work with no problems, but is a risk and therefore in general best avoided?

Indeed. Hence the advise to avoid it to the OP.

 

[crossref]

BTW - in my mind the biggest problem of being a club ref certainly isn't bias, and neither is it (IMO) unconscious bias (though that exists) - it's familiarity.

If you ref the same team many times then its inevitable that you come to the game with certain preconceptions about what to expect - who is a trouble maker, who tackles without arms/too high, who chats-back etc.

Sometimes a players' first offence in a game is the thirteenth time he's done that this season .. and it would be human nature to feel that.

Also one team has an advantage - they know the referee's blind spots, what he tends to miss, and where he's a stickler, what he never misses. They adapt their play, and this in turn will skew the penatly count, which the other coach notices and may construe as bias. It's not bias, but it is perhaps an unfair advantage

It's much better when the two teams have roughly comparable familiarity.

 

[Browner]

Early on in my refereeing I made the mistake of refereeing my club in a 'friendly', I vowed never again, .... but after 5 years of experience I was ready to take it on again . . . . . nowadays I'd have no worries, provided the 'captain' is a club player who would respect and support ! because familiarity is the catalyst to dissent.

 

[crossref]

Early on in my refereeing I made the mistake of refereeing my club in a 'friendly', I vowed never again, .... but after 5 years of experience I was ready to take it on again . . . . . nowadays I'd have no worries, provided the 'captain' is a club player who would respect and support ! because familiarity is the catalyst to dissent.

- no one is a prophet in their own land
- no one is a hero to their valet
- no club ref is appreciated by his club coaches

 

[Chogan]

I have no issue refereeing my own club so long as it is an out of competition match or we are hosting a touring side. Blitz tournaments are ok too but not in the knock-out stages.

I have done it 3 times already this season and we've lost every time.

 

[winchesterref]

Bet you're popular!

 

[Chogan]

Bet you're popular!

Ha. No issues. I train with the lads every week and know them well. They know what I want and how I'll call it. I always get plenty of questions from them after the games but the conversations are constructive as to how they could get away with things and what they can and can't do.
At the end of it all, they are the ones that pass and catch or make/miss their tackles.

 

[winchesterref]

True! That last sentence has been trotted out a couple of times after being berated over single decisions. Useful!

 

[Browner]

but the conversations are constructive as to how they could get away with things …..........

And this evidences exactly why your familiarity advantages them

 

[Chogan]

I don't use it as a line to hide behind. I use it with the squad as a method for the players taking ownership of their actions and eliminating the variable ref element. If they execute their actions correctly and legally they should win no matter who is blowing the whistle. It reduces player frustration with calls they don't agree with too. The battle is with the opposition, not the referee.

 

[Chogan]

but the conversations are constructive as to how they could get away with things …..........

And this evidences exactly why your familiarity advantages them

It is impossible to see everything on a pitch. It is also true that offences in different areas of the field result in the opposition taking different options with FKs and PKs.
If you hear "hands away" in your 22. Just do it. If you hear it in your opponents half as a player there is scope for you to decide if you were first man there and test a ref to know the his boundaries. The player might get a turn-over or he might concede a peno and a LO near his 22 with the added knowledge of what he can't do again.

 

[Lee Lifeson-Peart]

I have done my club in Pre-season games and have done the Vets when they are desperate and I was free.

No issues but I wouldn't have liked to do it when I was new.

Other than travel I can't think of an upside.

 

[irishref]

The pitfalls far outnumber the benefits in my humble one. Especially if you train at your club regularly as ref to keep up your fitness.

I had the pleasure of playing for my team in a pre-season friendly and was officially appointed to ref a cup game (that the boys and coach really didn't want to be in). However, prior to the cup game I went down to assess our club ref at home and got surprised by being told I was reffing and our club ref was on the bench.

It was a game against the team in second place, who were a wily old semi-veterans team with lots of practical knowledge of boundary pushing, as opposed to our team of very young and fit guys with no "nous" shall we say.

Result was a 10-10 draw but the amount of stick I took from certain members of my own team, especially since the only yellow card I gave was for them, made the exercise totally unworthwhile.

Funnily enough, the visiting team were very positive about my performance...

 

[WombleRef]

Part of my role is as an appointments manager. What do yoy think about the pros and cons ofappointing a ref to cover a match involving his own college side? I think that it can be very good for thrbdevelopment of a young upcoming ref. Over to you.

I can tell you this with experience of refereeing my own sixth form side SEVERAL TIMES. Its a bad idea. I've refereed my side in a 15 a side friendly and in a couple of the Further Education 10s tournaments that are run in Suffolk - its harder for both the referee AND the players to make the distinction between referee and friend.

I coped ok but when it comes to Senior Rugby sides OR School sides - its really a no go when it comes to affliations in my eyes.