Referees Course

[SlimShady]

I've done the fitness test, its a piece of piss!

[aontroim abu]

You should try the national one- its far from easy

[SlimShady]

i done the Antrim one, the biggest pile of horse-shit ever. No wonder the majority of Refs are overweight and unfit to keep up with play.

[aontroim abu]

i agree with you- the Antrim/ club referee test is piss poor, the effort put in by some is shti. but national and ulster is totally different. the refs academy has done GPS on some games with some refs doing between 9 and 10k each game.
if only the rest would do the same.

[playwiththewind1st]

See you @ Woodlands or All Saints, Slim. 6 laps of the pitch for a warm-up & a big boke upon finishing.

[Aristotle Flynn]

To become a Referee you are required to participate in a Referees' Foundation Training Course and pass a Written Examination of the rules and a Physical Fitness Test (not the one posted by Lecale).

The basic fitness test involves a series of 10 14m sprints within a set number of seconds. 20m sprints and a 45m backward sprint. 200m sprint and finishes of with 2 1/2 mile run in 13 minutes. Not hard if you are a young fit fella in your 20s but tough enough for someone in their late 30s/40s as most refs are.

Rather than sitting behind a keyboard and taking the piss out of refs you should get off your arse and try refereeing! I've never done it myself but there's no way it's easy. These guys deserve our respect rather than being the but of jokes on this discussion board.

[SlimShady]

no, you wont be seeing me!!!

blacksheep, if the 'test' is anything like the one I sat it will involve 20 lads in a room copying eachothers answers and looking up the rulebook!

i shit you not!

[aontroim abu]

hey Slim 18th February in Ballymena - refs fitness test. put your money where your mouth is and come up and try it

[SlimShady]

I've done it before, I have the invite to it and the Ulster Club league is on so I wont be near it. If I was free i still wouldnt attend as it is a farce, some of the lads that go are in very VERY bad shape. But fair play to them, nobody else is willing to do it so we must respect that.

The last one I was at it was 4 laps of the pitch at yer own pace- on my 2nd lap i passed 2 blokes hanging over a fence boaking there ringer up.

[playwiththewind1st]

Slim - you've an unfair advantage.

All that trudging into the back of the net to pick out the ball after you've let in another 1 must keep you as fit as feck.

No wonder the referees' fitness test was a piece of piss for ya !!

[aontroim abu]

And his sprints to the edge of the box are one to behold

[SlimShady]

boom, boom, hilarious lads!!

now, i'm the first to admit I'm not the best trainer about but come on now- are you guys seriously trying to tell me that the Refs in Antrim are in good shape?! theres a bloke from Larne-must be a hurling ref who i was seriously concerned for after it. He had heart attack written all over him!!

[Derry Daisy]

A lot of the Derry refs refused to do the fitness test a couple of years back, not sure what way things are now but these so called referees still got c'ship matches.

[aontroim abu]

slim this is a problem throughout the country, not just for Antrim GAA. most refs are either past players or are just not up to the rigours of playing, but as you correctly said "But fair play to them, nobody else is willing to do it so we must respect that."
if people arent happy then they should step up to the mark and take over, its easy to criticise them , harder to get people to tkae over

[SlimShady]

the county don't treat the Refs as well as they should either. They should be bending over backwards for them, give them wet gear, give them passes to Championship games, whatever- give them some reward for trudging all over the county to listen to some whiney oul **** who has f**k all else to do with his evenings than hang over a fence telling you yer no use ( i get enough of that while playing!!!).

you wont catch me reffing any time soon!