| Most mentoring takes place on an informal
basis and more experienced referees are always willing to share
information, ideas and advice at society meetings, grounds or even
by telephone. There is sometimes a need, however, for more
structured schemes, particularly for new referees and for officials
seeking to progress to the higher echelons of the game.
Any referee can apply to have a
Mentor
, and it could be argued every match official should have one in
some shape or form. You can even be a
Mentor
as well as being mentored as the spirit of sharing information and
experience is the main key to the scheme.
People progressing to more senior levels of the game are often
‘taken under the wing’ of someone who is officiating or who has
officiated at higher rungs on the ‘refereeing ladder’. There is
even a formal scheme for each referee at the highest level in this
Country to have his or her own ‘coach’ to provide such
assistance.
Newly-qualified referees invariably find the mentoring scheme
particularly helpful. Absolutely every referee registered with the
Essex
County
F.A.
is, however, welcome to benefit and should fill-in the Form at the
bottom of this page if they would like a
Mentor
appointed to help them.
But what’s involved in being a
Mentor
? One evening training session needs to be attended in order to be
accredited by The Football Association and the E.C.F.A. arrange
these on a periodical basis. Mentors are asked to watch the
people to whom they are allocated as they officiate from time to
time. The key points for any
Mentor
to remember when watching a referee are to:
- say “Well
Done!”
- ask the
referee how he or she feels about the game;
- congratulate
the referee on the three strongest features of his or her game,
encouraging them to maintain those strengths;
- discuss
possible solutions to the weakest feature of the referee’s
game.
Three strengths but only one weakness? Yes. Remember it’s all
about encouragement! The mentoring relationship is, however, an
ongoing project and is not strictly limited to the
Mentor
occasionally watching the person being assisted. The person being
guided should also watch the Mentor officiate from time to time if
they are still active, discussing the game perhaps at half time and
certainly afterwards. Both people should also sometimes go to watch
a game together, whether a professional game, semi-professional or
on the parks, again discussing the performance of the official(s).
It is important that Mentors should be available to assist people
whenever the need arises. Normally this is done by telephone - why
not arrange to speak on the phone, say, every Thursday evening?
Meeting-up every now and then, perhaps at functions organised by
local Referees’ Societies, is also very helpful.
A small amount of paperwork has to be completed by the
Mentor
- periodic Feedback Forms have to be submitted to the co-ordinator
of the scheme so they can keep an overview of its operation and so
any widespread training needs can be drawn to the attention of the
organiser.
Who can be a
Mentor
? The key characteristics of a good
Mentor
are friendliness, approachability and patience. Experience as a
referee is helpful but it’s not necessary for this to be
particularly lengthy. In many ways, someone who qualified a year or
so ago will be an ideal Mentor for someone who is newly-qualified as
the issues that challenge a new referee will still be fresh in the
mind of the Mentor. Even if the
Mentor
doesn’t know the answer to every particular question, he or she
will normally know who can provide it. Guidance can, of course,
always be obtained from the co-ordinator of the scheme.
In summary, absolutely any referee registered with the
Essex
County
F.A.
can become a
Mentor
. If you are an E.C.F.A.-affiliated Match Official please fill-in
the Form below if you’d like to become a mentor.
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