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Post by tonygalinto on Mar 1, 2011 10:13:51 GMT -6
This past weekend I was able to see the Referee Academy in action. I found it to be well organized and all the referee participants very involved, as well as the trainers. The referees I spoke to seems to be getting a lot from the program and all appeared to be excited to be getting feedback from the trainers. On a side note some of the parent/spectators I spoke to very curious about the ear piece some of the referees were wearing, to hear real time feedback from the trainers. I think this is a tremendous improvement. In an assessment the assessor in the feedback talks about some foul that happened in the 35th minute and a young referee doesn't have a clue on what foul the assessor is talking about. With the ear piece the trainer speaks about the foul in real time and then after the game the referee can then give their reasoning on the call or non-call.
My final thoughts is that the Referee Academy is a good program but needs to be held more than once or twice a year. At least quarterly would be (in my opinion) the minimum for this program to be really effective for the up and coming young referees. This was a rec tournament so the less experienced referees could be invited and get more out of it than they could if it was a premiere tournament. Maybe do two premiere tournament academies a year and invite the referee that are further long or that have attended one of the two academies held at a rec tournament.
One last suggestion is to put politics aside and invite some of the other top level referees and see if they would be interested in being trainers at the academy. Just because someone isn't an assessor doesn't mean they can't work in the program and be very effective.
Of course it's easy for someone not involved to sit on the sidelines and coach, which is what I'm doing here. Good luck with the program.
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Post by reddevil70737 on Mar 1, 2011 10:41:01 GMT -6
Also thought the Academy went well this weekend. I wasnt able to do a game as to my coaching requirements, but I could tell the difference in the quality of refs between this weekend and other tourneys in the past. Of my 11 games I only had 1 CTR that was questionalbe. Normally I would have to say that number would be around 4-5.
I hope to see more of these events in the future. I think the greater need is at the D1 level where we have more of the younger refs.
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Post by happyjack on Mar 1, 2011 10:46:52 GMT -6
Tony, you make some excellen points. First, it is difficult to schedule the academies, and adding 3 or 4 more into the mix is hard. Also, the request for upper level officials to work as mentors does not exclude anyone, but it is based on their availability and willingness to work on both Friday night and all day Saturday. It is a big commitment and one that everyone is not able to make, for various reasons. Also this weekend we had the high school finals, and many of the upper officials were working those. Most o the mentors are not assessors, but we also had a number of assessors (3 state and 2 nationals) working the tournament. Ideally we would be able to use all the state referees inthis as mentors, but that also creates problems with the local leagues and having coverage for those matches. With premier games now sternly up, the numbers get worse, not better. Finally, it is more work for assignors to have the academy, as they must schedule these officials as a group all day, and we Trying not to make their work harder than it already is
We try and move the academy to different areas ofthe state that may not normally have the ability for upper level officials to work, while also tryingto make sure we have sufficient coverage. Our next academy is in Shreveport, which presents some logistical problems for officials as most of he state referees will have to travel 3-5 hours to get there. Not everyone has the luxury of time in their work and home schedules to accommodate that. We continue to work on the format, and based on the response from the associations and coaches, we are seeing improvement in the quities of officials. Lastly, we have limited funds that we are working with regarding travel pay , etc and are doing our best to make this work within budgetary constraints
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Post by happyjack on Mar 1, 2011 10:50:23 GMT -6
Also, we held 2 in the fall and Shreveport will be our 2nd inthe spring, so 4 a year on top of field trainers at tourneys are a good number. Don't forget we also have a good bit of feedback given in state cup matches, which include field trainiv, assessments and feedback as well, just not in a formal academy environment.
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Post by chelsea007 on Mar 2, 2011 9:03:53 GMT -6
Can the academies be linked to tournaments for real time assessment and feedback. With multiple tournaments throughout the stae, it would seem to lend itself to supporting the academy. FWIW, I think this a very good thing. I know I would have my sons participate.
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Post by happyjack on Mar 2, 2011 10:54:47 GMT -6
It is linked to tourneys, baton rouge and Shreveport tourneys in the spring
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Post by tonygalinto on Mar 2, 2011 16:59:05 GMT -6
What if any is the official name of the Referee Academy, is it Louisiana Referee Academy or just Referee Academy, or maybe Soccer Referee Academy?
You know a patch would be nice to give out to the referees (especially young referees) something they could attach to their bags or a sticker that they could stick onto something.
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Post by happyjack on Mar 2, 2011 17:05:42 GMT -6
We have 3 different sets of patches that have been distributed, as well as coins.
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Post by tonygalinto on Mar 2, 2011 17:21:12 GMT -6
Would you send a picture of the patches to tonygalinto@yahoo.com
Thanks
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Post by happyjack on Mar 2, 2011 18:11:58 GMT -6
Check your email
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Post by tonygalinto on Mar 2, 2011 19:58:14 GMT -6
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Post by futbolislife on Mar 3, 2011 16:05:47 GMT -6
As Happy pointed out, we are shooting for 4 a year, 2 in the fall and 2 in spring. It does take effort to coordinate these events with assessors, mentors, the local assignor, the tournament committee at the host site. I think we are getting better at making it a sucess. It took us a while to find the formula that works.
The most outstanding thing that the assessors saw and commented is that every single referee improved through the day, without fail.
And the state purchased three sets of "Ref Talk". The feedback we give to referees using this tool is tremendous. You can change habits in a single game or make points that "stick".
This is a positive step towards development of referees. Miss has already contacted us to get details. They are coming to Shreveport to watch and try it in their state
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Post by Steven Gerrard on Mar 3, 2011 16:37:54 GMT -6
I am assuming that the "Ref Talk" is the communication device. Can I use that while I am in Shreveport coaching my team? So, I can communicate better with the ref about which foul he missed? If I am lucky, it will be you, futbolislife.
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Post by happyjack on Mar 3, 2011 21:30:31 GMT -6
You can use it, but please be aware that the coaches version also contains a shock device that the referee can operate for every inane comment a coach makes. Double shockes for yelling "REFEREE" triple shocks for "you're missing a good game red" and taser level for when you act like hour agreeing but really being cynical. Coaches, please send me a PM if you're interested and I'll be happy to put you on the list!
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