The match officials tasked with taking charge of the country’s top domestic competitions this summer are ready to meet the challenge after being put through their paces at a pre-season seminar held at QBE Stadium in Auckland this month.

Those taking part included the full range of match officials – referees, assistant referees, fourth officials and assessors – from the ISPS Handa Premiership while the referees from the National Women’s League were also involved as a range of topics were covered, in both theoretical and practical sessions.

The content included an update on the amendments to the Laws of the Game, targets for the upcoming season, current trends in the game and advice on team work when operating as a match official trio. Lessons from the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, match management, tactical systems of play, assessment (what is an expected level of performance) and handball were also covered by top instructors such as Matt Conger, Anna-Marie Keighley and Peter O’Leary, who have been to 25 FIFA World Cups between them.

New Zealand Football Referee Development Manager Ken Wallace says the staging of such a gathering serves many purposes as the national league season gets underway.

“For a start, it’s a good chance to get everyone together and for the referees to get to know who they’ll be working with,” he says.

“But it’s also an opportunity to get unity and conformity across the board and to ensure that all referees are applying the laws in the same way. The objective was to get greater consistency but also using common sense and trying to do more in terms of what the game would want, rather than only relying on the rules of the game.”

The focus on the seminar was on personal development and Wallace was pleased to be able to report some good news on that front.

“One of the things I highlighted early in the programme was that the average rating from the federations in terms of referee performance in the National Women’s League was at 7.8 and from the clubs in the ISPS Handa Premiership it was at 7.1 – and the assistant referees and fourth officials were rated even higher,” he says.

“So the clubs and federations are saying our referees are performing well and we are pleased to see that feedback – it’s very rewarding. They are our customers and their feedback aligns well with that from our assessors.”

Wallace attributes that level of performance to the hard work and sacrifice put in by the country’s top match officials.

“I work closely with the high performance group and some of them are doing 30 sessions per month – they are also holding down jobs, have families and don’t get paid. They hire nutritionists, personal trainers, sprint coaches and a range of other providers to be as competitive as they can be on the field and that comes out in their performances,” he says.

Epitomising the results of that commitment is Conger, who recently achieved a lifelong goal when selected to officiate at the FIFA World Cup in Russia. He relished the opportunity to share his experiences of the biggest event in football with his fellow Kiwi referees and says seminars such as this are crucial.

“It’s great to be able to share ideas, build camaraderie and prepare for the season ahead in a really professional manner,” he says.

“I love being able to share my experience from the FIFA events with others. The idea is to take the experiences that I have been able to glean from receiving coaching around the world and working with top-class referees and bringing home some of the concepts and deliberate actions referees are making to improve their games. We want to put those lessons into our game here so we can improve the standard of our own game,” he adds.

“The refereeing standard across our national leagues has improved hugely over time. We are developing a much higher level of consistency and there is a greater emphasis on professionalism, preparation and performance.”

The seminar at QBE Stadium was historic as it marked the first time all referees from both the ISPS Handa Premiership and National Women’s League had been brought together under the same roof for such a purpose.

One of the country’s most promising female referees is Morgan Archer and she made sure to take as much as possible from the opportunity.

“I really enjoyed it,” she says.

“I came here hoping to get a refresher on the Laws of the Game and to get to know the rest of the cohort and the people officiating around New Zealand at the highest level. It’s really important to learn from the likes of Anna-Marie Keighley and the other senior referees here. They can outline what it is like at the very elite level with FIFA. It gives you something to strive for and it’s great to see that pathway to the FIFA events is possible from New Zealand.”

Archer, who is set to embark on her third season of officiating in the National Women’s League, is about to take the next step on that pathway to the top as she has been selected for the OFC Women’s Nations Cup in November.

“I am using the national league to increase my skills and experience further to prepare for the Nations Cup – I am pretty stoked to be selected for that tournament,” she says.

Wallace is pleased to be able to offer such opportunities for referees to hone their skills and is confident the standards will be high across the ISPS Handa Premiership, National Women’s League and National Youth League this season.

“We have a strong referee development programme in place and a good mix of experienced and up-and-coming referees,” he says.

“The range of national leagues on offer provide them with the perfect platforms to develop further and we are looking forward to seeing who can step up to the next level.”

ISPS Handa Premiership Match Officials

Peter Linney, Robert Fleetham, Anna-Marie Keighley, Cory Mills, Nick Waldron, Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh, Calvin Berg, Matt Conger, Antony Riley, Ben O’Connell, Allan Wilson, Mazhar Batoor, Stephen Merriman, Chris Trent, Luke Agnew, Reza Al Rabea, Charlie Tseng, Sarah Jones, Ben Norman, Andrew Lamberth, Mark Rule, Gareth Sheehan, Trent Pedley, Edward Cook, Chris Bennett, Aaron Clarke, Ashton Davenport, Mark Whitehead, Isaac Trevis, Cameron Gruschow, Michael Love, Regan Preston, Sean Reilly, Richard Malcolm, Andrea Verolino, Jack Henderson, Craig Campbell, Craig Smith, Ryan Mahalm, Nick Burnett, Dan Woulahan

National Women’s League Match Officials

Bridget Baker, Wendy McNeely, Morgan Archer, Anna-Marie Keighley, Beth Rattray, Nadia Browning, Sarah Jones, Lindsey Robinson, Mike Killick, Dan Woulahan, Heloise Simons, Hilary Osborne, Daniel Neville, William Roberts, Ben Kroonenberg, Jeen Lee, Benjamin Walker, Devyn Crawford, Andrew Turner, Barry Buchanan, Benson Oosterbaan, Jordan Williams, Courteney Bremner, Caleb Downes, Caolan Bolster, Craig Smith, Caleb Marsh

Article added: Thursday 27 September 2018