Clubs and players prepare for the new season as soon as the old season ends. It is pretty much the same for the officials and they will be gathering at St Andrews tonight for the annual Senior Referee Summer Training Camp. This is a weekend of training, review and discussion in preparation for the challenges that season 2012/13 will present. The weekend will be, led by the SFA’s Head of Referee Development John Fleming and will bring together Category One, Two, Three and Specialist Assistant Referees from around the country. The sessions will allow details of the new referee categories coming into effect for the new season to be disseminated and discussed. The new structure includes three levels: Awareness Level Referees, Registered Referees and Referees for Senior and Junior. There are also two separate pathways for referees and assistant referees and a number of development categories now in place. With a number of schools now embarking on the SQA’s Referee Development Award, and several football clubs in Scotland also providing players with opportunities to gain refereeing qualifications, there is a clearly defined Awareness Level Referees category which will aid their development. The weekend is not just a chance to catch up on regulations and tales of what they all did in the holidays. Referees have to meet fitness standards to keep up with the modern game and training sessions will be led by fitness instructor John McQuade and sports scientist Graeme Jones. All referees will undergo a fitness assessment on Saturday afternoon. John Fleming said: "The annual Senior Referee Summer Training Camp is an excellent opportunity for us to review and discuss the positive elements of last season and also to look at areas where we could do better. I believe the referees performed very well last season and there are encouraging signs on the recruitment front, too, with an increase in our referee pool. We have also witnessed an increase in our retention levels. We will be introducing a referee pathway for the new season, which will provide a clear and transparent structure and will help us identify and nurture talented referees as early as possible with the assistance of our development categories. The camp also allows us to go through the pre-season guidelines with the referees which will soon go all the clubs with meetings planned over the coming weeks in order that everyone is aware of the guidelines which help deliver consistency. We have a busy and varied weekend ahead and I am looking forward to meeting with our referees."
Source: FOOTYMAD
