CPD

To under pin the education and development of referees and identify their individual needs, we have designed a basic psychometric profiling assessment which can support an individual’s goals and aspirations as well as identify to NGB’s through evidence based information those with potential.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify the behaviour traits of individuals
• Establish if individuals work well as part of a team
• Identify individual training needs
• Identify potential

Focus and concentration are crucial to the role of the referee. Without understanding the difference between them, their purpose and how to use each individually and collectively, any amount of knowledge and experience will be less effective than it could be.

This module takes you through a journey of understanding your own levels of focus and concentration, how to use both effectively and how to improve them.

Learning Outcomes

• Be able to identify and understand the difference between focus and concentration and when and where to use each individually and collectively
• Assess your own current level of focus and concentration skills
• Demonstrate the importance, relevance and core value of focus and concentration as a referee
• Learn how to improve concentration and focus in your role as a referee
• Understand how to transfer these generic skills to your role as a referee
• Identify how to use focus and concentration to improve your overall performance as a referee

This module has been designed to measure the knowledge of law that a learner brings to their officiating. Once completed it allows us to identify key areas of strengths and development so we can ‘fill in the gaps’ of knowledge whilst teaching the application.

Learning Outcomes

• Enables the opportunity to remove the basic laws from face to face delivery and use the valuable face to face time for the application of the laws
• Assess the basic knowledge of the individual learner
• Identify to the NGB the gaps of knowledge that need to be taught in face to face delivery
• An opportunity to tailor face to face delivery to share experience through the application of law

Observation and decision making under pressure is fundamental to the role of a referee, it’s what we do whether it’s in recreational sport or the elite level. We firstly have to make sure our observation skills are developed in order for us to understand and identify what we have seen, then we can take the appropriate action SEE / RECOGNISE / ACT

This module takes us through a journey of understanding pressure and how we can manage it in our role to enable us to be effective referees. The module will require you to think about and record your own practices, undertake tasks and finally assess and record your responses.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the importance of observation skills and how to improve them to enhance your decision making
• Understand how you process information as an individual
• What you see, how you recognise it, and what  you do about it
• Understand the added skills of anticipation and awareness and how to use them effectively  to support correct decision making
• Understand what causes pressure, where it comes from and coping strategies to deal with it
• Experience decision making under pressure

This module allows us to consider effective and responsible ways for sports officials to manage themselves, others and situations, and establish / maintain control.

Learning Outcomes

• Identifying what are effective management skills
• Using effective skills to manage yourself and others
• Learn how to apply effective management techniques
• How to manage the environment

In order to deal with people in a respectful appropriate manner we must firstly identify our own behaviour styles, as how we manage ourselves in given situations will help us understand how to deal with others with respect. This will help determine how we approach different types of situations we come across as a referee to achieve successful outcomes.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand what is meant by ‘Personal Brand’ and why it is so Important
• Understand how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you
• How to create a positive first impression
• Identify our personal management traits and how you respond to situations
• How we manage conflict situations
• How to become self-aware and promote personal enhancement
• Review and reflection of own skills and performance
• How we deal  with negative feedback
• Learn how to empathise with others and enhance social competence

We tend to think that our main form of communication between ourselves is through what we say but in fact, communication is far more complex than simply speaking or making sounds.  We are actually capable of communicating very complex Non-Verbal messages just by our behaviour – for example, the way we dress sends messages to those who observe us, whether we sit or stand and how we do so also sends messages, whether we fidget in our chair or play with our pens in certain situations, smiling, the position of our heads etc. are all ways of communicating.

It is very easy to say what we don’t mean with words but extremely difficult to hide what we really do mean as our non-verbal communication is extremely difficult to manipulate because we are usually not even aware of the signals we are giving off.

Learning Outcomes

• Identifying the forms of communication
• Selling our decisions through positive communication
• As sports officials Identify who we communicate with and how to do so appropriately
• Understand how to use communication skills and body language
• Conscious and non-conscious communication, are we saying what we mean

Identifying what causes conflict, and managing confrontational situations is crucial to your role as a sports official. Without understanding of what causes these situations, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage them effectively.

This module takes you through a journey of understanding of what causes confrontation, how to recognise your own behavioural traits when dealing with people and situations and how to effectively manage these with respect.

Learning Outcomes

• Understanding conflict management and why it is so important.
• Identifying what causes conflict.
• Conflict management situations and how to manage these situations with respect
• Identify positive behaviours for dealing with conflict
• Conflict Management techniques including mutual respect
• Managing Difficult Conversations 

Whilst we appreciate the standards and criteria required for each level of operation, this module will help you to ‘stand out above the rest’ by exhibiting that little bit more, the ‘it’ factor whatever  ‘it’ is this could be in the form of showing passion and commitment or having exemplary conduct or exhibiting management or leadership skills etc  its about being the best you can be, not settling for ‘just achieving the criteria’ but by raising your standards whilst continuing to work to your own potential and goals, and always staying in touch with reality.

Learning Outcomes

• In reality, Identifying your personal vision of where you want to be and what steps you need to take to get there
• Give you the tools to believe in yourself, so others will recognise your potential and successes
• Be able to recognise and seize opportunities when they present themselves
• How to strive to be not only a success but of value to your sport
• Identify your strengths and areas of development required to succeed
• How to achieve your own potential/goals through commitment and passion
• Show how your desire to succeed must be greater than your fear of failure
• Self Reflection – enable you to understand it and develop  it effectively

There are a range of skills demanded of a referee, many of them can be linked to the individual’s state of mind and mental preparation in readiness for their game, it is well known that ‘Peak performance is associated with optimum development of physical, technical and psychological parameters’ (Doust et al, 1996). This module considers the mental skills and qualities required by looking at what the expectations are of them from the athletes, coaches and other key stakeholders. Expectations create a degree of pressure, pressure is part of what we do, we will look at this in some detail and how we manage it positively.

Learning Outcomes

• Why do we need psychology
• The psychology of decision making
• To identify where pressure comes from
• Develop skills and coping strategies for dealing with pressure and staying in the present
• How to use pressure as a positive challenge rather than a threat
• Identify how to use your cognitive and behavioural traits in conjunction with each other
• How to achieve the ideal mental state
• Perception of demands

Emotional intelligence indicates the ability to enhance your personal power, quality of life and your productivity by handling your emotions rather than losing control of them.  In other words, it means making your emotions work for you and not against you. As a referee you will inevitably find yourselves dealing with a wide variety of emotions. How you handle not only the emotions of others but also your own can have significant impact on your effectiveness and the enjoyment of others within football.

This module takes you through a journey of understanding of what emotional intelligence is, how to manage your own emotions and those of others and prevent where possible any possible areas of conflict and therefore manage people and situations appropriately and respectfully.

Learning Outcomes

• Understanding what emotional intelligence is
• Understanding the importance of emotional intelligence
• Making your emotions work for you rather than against you
• Using Emotional Intelligence to display your body language and communication
• Recognising and managing the emotions of others
• Tools to increase your own and others emotional intelligence 

To be smart enough and fit enough to meet the physical demands of your role and to anticipate play in order to make credible decisions to enhance overall control of the sporting event.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify your current levels of fitness and to ascertain how fit you need to be to carry out your role
• Understand how you reach and maintain the level of fitness required
• Understanding the relationship between mental and physical fitness
• Be aware of diet, nutrition and lifestyle choices to maintain your health and well being
• Understand the appropriate physical preparation required prior to you undertaking your role as a referee