Referee Academy
Mentoring and Development in Hertfordshire
Referee Mentoring and the Hertfordshire FA Referee Academy
Hertfordshire FA has three mentoring schemes at different locations in the County for new referees. The schemes are for those who are looking for guidance and support through the early stages and matches to build experience and self confidence before joining a League.
Each of the three optional schemes has experienced referees who will look after you to make your experience an enjoyable one and will only appoint new referees to appropriate matches (normally at younger age groups) until they feel you are ready to progress to 9v9 and 11 a side matches.
The referee course requires trainee referees to officiate five qualifying matches in 9v9 and/or 11 a side football but you will only referee these formats when the mentors feel you are ready to do so. Trainee referees will be instructed to contact their nearest scheme to join and be offered matches dependent on an individuals availability.
At this time these are three centres for mentoring that are available and are very popular with new referees, so at times there may not be enough matches for all new referees but you will be considered when games become available.
Harvesters Club Referee Academy
Located on the outskirts of St. Albans on the way to Hatfield, this centre has been built up over a number of years where new referees are appointed to appropriate games to gain experience and confidence before moving onto 9v9 and 11 a side matches.
West Herts Referee Mentoring Programme
Referees in the Dacorum area of the County are appointed to appropriate matches and mentored by Colin or one of his experienced mentors who will look after new referees in their early matches before joining a local League. Please contact Colin Sherwood for more information.
London Lions - Borehamwood Referee Academy
A new centre in the South of the County (just off the A1M at Borehamwood) offering the same support as the other two schemes but facilitating matches to new referees on a Sunday afternoon. Please contact Nigel Burns for more information.
Trainee referees won't yet have all the skills to manage a 9v9 game and so are guided through their early matches to develop them
The FA regulations say that 14 and 15 year olds can only referee in matches at age group at least one year younger than they are. Therefore a 14 year old referee can only referee matches up to Under 13's for example. Those aged 16 and over can referee any age groups in football (including adults) but we would advise referees to build up confidence and experience in youth football first before moving onto any adult matches.
The FA state the time frame is four months from the start of your course to completing your 5 qualifying games and submitting your detailed match form back to the County FA. If this is not achievable for whatever reason we would be expecting trainee referees to commit to this requirement and complete their qualification within a year of the course start date
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01462 677622
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