Transcript Document
Effective Communication by
Match Officials
Prepared by: James Keast, Chief Assessor
2006 Refresher Module
Presented to the Halifax Dartmouth Referees’ Association
Refresher module on May 4th, 2006
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Communication
• Who do we need to communicate with?
• What do we communicate?
• When does this communication need to take
place?
• How should we communicate?
• Communication and Game Management
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Who do we communicate with?
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Who do we communicate with?
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Assistant Referees and the 4th Official
Coaches and other team staff
Players
Facility management
Spectators?
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Assistant Referees &
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th
4
Official
Assistant Referees &
th
4
• Arrival at the game
• Pre-game instructions
• During the game:
– At stoppages
– During active play
• At half time
• After the game
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Official
Arrival at Game
• Arrive in plenty of time to do all your duties and
to meet with the other officials
• Its appropriate for there to be a social atmosphere
with your fellow officials, be friendly and take the
time to talk to each other
• At some point the referee must make the transition
to game time and this is best done with pre-game
instructions
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Pre-Game Instructions
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Pre-Game Instructions
• Some level of pre-game instructions should be
done for every game
• Cover the fundamental expectations around
offside, ball out of play, substitutions, fouls,
misconduct
• We know everyone knows this but repetition helps
– and this sets the tone for the game….
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… pre-game instructions
• Cover any special substitution rules
• Cover any special competition rules (does
there need to be a winner?)
• Discuss any expectations about the
importance of the game, the key players etc.
– Be sure to ask the ARs if they have questions
– Remember to remind them to have fun
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During Game Communication
With ARs and 4th
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During Game Communication
With ARs and 4th
• Standard flag signals
• Eye contact at every stoppage
• Eye contact during active play
– Especially during tense moments
• Subtle signals from the AR to the Referee
– Communicating things the Referee has not seen
• Verbal communication when necessary
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Half Time Communication With
ARs and 4th
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Half Time Communication With
ARs and 4th
• Take time at half time to check with your
assistants about:
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How the game is going
Anything you need them to do differently
Anything you might have missed
Any problems in the game so far
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Full Time Communication With
ARs and 4th
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Full Time Communication With
ARs and 4th
• Take time after the game to talk about:
– How the game went
– Any flash points
– Be sure to ask if they have any suggestions
about how you can improve
– As an Assistant be sure to provide good
constructive advice
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Coaches and Team Staff
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Coaches and Team Staff
• Before the game
• During the game
• After the game
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Coaches and Team Staff
• Before the game
– Introduce yourself and the assistants when you
pick up the game sheets
– Polite, friendly, brief (same for both teams)
– Politely remind them where the technical area
is
– Remind them of any special rules
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Coaches and Team Staff
• During the game
– Shouldn’t be necessary, but if there are
problems, politely warn the bench staff, remind
them they can give tactical instructions to their
players but must behave responsibly
– If you warn the bench, you must follow through
if the behaviour continues or worsens
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Coaches and Team Staff
• After the game:
– Return game sheets, game balls etc to the
teams.
– If the situation allows there is nothing wrong
with answering polite legitimate questions
about what you called – this is up to you
– Officials should depart as a team
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Players
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Players
• Before the game
• During the game
• After the game
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Players
• Before the game
– Be friendly during pre-game checks
– Introduce yourself and ARs to captain
• During the game
– Talk to players to facilitate game management (more
later)
• After the game
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Spectators
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Spectators
• Generally avoid interacting with spectators.
• Any spectators who are impacting game
control (interacting with players etc.) or
causing you a major problem, have the
home team remove them.
• This is especially the case in youth games.
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Communication and Game
Management
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Communication and Game
Management
• Communication is critical to game control
• Use your voice to calm players down when
they are getting excited:
– “easy”, “keep the hands down”, “no..”
• Use your voice and arm signals for
advantage
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Communication and Game
Management
• If there is a major challenge but no foul sometimes
it is appropriate to use your voice to indicate there
was no foul:
– “nothing there, fair challenge”
– Tell them you saw a ball off the chest not
arm…
– Don’t over-use this
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Communication and Game
Management
• Sometimes the players really don’t know
what the foul was use or voice or some
small gesture to tell them:
– “you need to go straight up”
– Indicate hand-ball if it is not obvious
– Don’t over-use this
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Never…
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Never
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Be emotional (appearing emotional is different)
shout at players or coaches
threaten players or coaches “next time….”
shake your finger at players or coaches or wave
them away dismissively
– embarrass players or coaches
• When giving cards it is not necessary for them to
come to you
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Communicating without saying
anything…
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Communicating without saying
anything…
– When walking, walk with purpose, upright and
confident
– When running, run like a Referee not a player: head up
and in control
– Give 100% effort – communicates that you care
– Smile when it’s appropriate
• It is ok for you to have fun
– Use humour with the players and coaches, carefully
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