2018 has seen 48 new match officials introduced to the game through a “Green Shirt Initiative”, which was introduced by Football Far North Coast this season to actively highlight the need to support, respect and to show empathy to ALL match officials, but particularly to new match officials (young and older).
The program aims to change behaviour towards new match officials and create a culture amongst players and team officials, as well as spectators and parents, to treat match officials with courtesy and respect. We should value the role that match officials have in our game and accept that they ARE doing their best (even when some do not agree with the decisions that are made).
Anyone who completed a level 4 referee course this year and had not previously officiated in football has this season initially worn a bright green match official’s shirt. Over the course of the season all new match officials (green shirt referees) have been or will be assessed and when appropriate, will receive their black referee shirt, to indicate that they have progressed past the initial steps as a match official.
No matter what colour shirt a match official is wearing, match officials continue to receive as much support and coaching as possible from the limited number of accredited assessors within FFNC and they continue to learn through more experience. It is important that all participants recognise that, just like players, match officials need support and encouragement in order to create a positive culture that assists in their development.
The 48 new match officials that have registered to officiate this season represents almost HALF the total number of registered match officials this season, so there is more that we can ALL do to ensure that individuals want to continue officiating in future seasons.
Although it is now too late to register as a match official this season, anyone who is interested in becoming a referee in 2019 should email us with your name and details, so that we can gauge interest for a possible course post-season?
