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1. Referee Mentors. The Regional Director of Referee Assessments (“RDRA”) will select experienced referees to serve as referee mentors. Those selected will be notified of their selection and provided with a copy of these guidelines. Mentors will earn service units (required for upgrading their badge level). For the first two games mentored during the season one service unit will be earned per game. Thereafter, the region will credit the mentor with one additional service unit (up to a maximum of three additional service units) for every two mentored games.
2. Mentoring Assignments. On a rotational basis, approximately once every five weeks during the fall season, each mentor will be assigned the responsibility for providing on-site referee mentoring for two back-to-back Saturday U10 games. Prior to the start of the fall season, the RDRA will request that the mentors provide a list of those dates and times during the first half of the season that they will not be available to mentor. Prior to the start of the fall season, the RDRA will prepare and publish a schedule of mentoring assignments for the first half of the season. The same procedure will be employed prior to the start of the second half of the season. It is not anticipated that any mentor will be asked to mentor more than two games during the first half of the season and two games during the second half of the season. Mentoring assignments will not be part of the region’s Arbiter Scheduling Program and mentors will be free to schedule themselves to referee games on the same dates that they are scheduled to mentor.
3. Volunteering to Mentor Additional Games. Due to the limited number of mentors, and the fact that mentors also need to fulfill refereeing assignments on the days that they are not scheduled to mentor, mentors may only be provided for two of the region’s four U10 fields. If, without interfering with his or her referee assignments, a mentor wishes to volunteer for additional mentoring assignments that would be appreciated because it will permit us to mentor additional games that otherwise will not be covered. Mentors who are available for additional mentoring assignments may contact the ARA ( jmass@exeter.com)or they can sign-in to mentor any unassigned games by checking the referee assignment sheet that will be posted at the referee tent near the U10 fields on game days.
4. Principles of Mentoring. The following is a summary of the principles of mentoring (adapted from various sources). More specific details on the Referee Mentor’s duties and responsibilities are set forth in Section 5.
· Mentoring is an extremely effective “friendly” way to impart knowledge. Mentoring is predominantly on-the-job training with advice and assistance to facilitate improvement in performance. During the process, the mentor learns almost as much as the referees being mentored.
· At least 50% of the conversation in the referee tent involves “mentoring” in one form or another. [We will have a referee tent at the U10 fields on Arroyo North/Middle, with water and other amenities for both experienced and new referees. We will encourage all referees to drop by the tent and spend some time observing and chatting with other referees. That will also be part of our mentoring program].
· The referee mentor is a coach, a guide and a teacher to the new referee. The mentor is there to guide the referee through the initial steps of a match and help him or her get comfortable with refereeing games. The mentor provides sound, simple advice as well as being a good listener and coach. The mentor should be very visible on the sideline, ready to handle parents and coaches who do not understand that the referee is a volunteer and needs time and encouragement to develop, not criticism and abuse. The mentor should be ready at the quarters, half time, and the end of the match to assist the referee, to listen, to answer questions, to respond to concerns, to provide advice and, most important, to provide encouragement and support.
· The mentor’s duties are fairly simple. The mentor takes few, if any, notes. The mentor is not there to list all the “mistakes” the referee makes. Rather, the mentor is ready to help the referee get the match started by meeting with the coaches, collecting the line-up cards and making sure they are completed correctly, and inspecting the field to ensure there are no safety issues. During the match, the mentor’s duties include helping the referee with foul recognition, proper restarts, good signaling and proper positioning.
· The mentor is not there to referee the game and should limit his or her advice during the match, which advice should never be critical, to the quarter and half time breaks. At an appropriate stoppage in play, if the referee signals the mentor that he needs help or advice right away, the mentor may enter the field to talk with the referee, but the mentor should gently try to discourage that because it disrupts the flow of the game. Otherwise, the mentor should never enter the field of play during the game except when it is necessary to help the referee control a serious problem that it appears the referee cannot control. The mentor is not there to make or change judgment calls (although he or she may talk with the referee about them at the quarter or half time breaks or after the match). All conversations and communications between the mentor and the referees must be held out of the hearing of players, coaches and spectators.
· After the match, the mentor must congratulate the referees: “Well Done! A fine performance. You did three things particularly well, and I’d like to suggest just one or two things for you to think about before your next game.” The mentor then briefly expands upon those points, but also ensures that the referees have the opportunity to raise their concerns and issues. The mentor should not dictate to the referees. It should be a conversation among colleagues allowing for discussion and communication in both directions. A mentor is not acting as an assessor. Therefore, a mentor should never list down and discuss everything that the referees may have done wrong or could have done better. That will have a negative effect. By focusing on two or three areas, the mentor will be able to coax and encourage the referee into doing better the next time, but without sounding like a “school teacher!”
5. Duties and Responsibilities of the Referee Mentor. The following is a list of the specific duties and responsibilities of our Referee Mentors.
· The mentor will be responsible for checking his or her mentoring schedule and being at the assigned field at least 15 minutes before the first assigned game.
· The mentor should be in full uniform (blue referee shirts will be given to all mentors) and should have his or her referee kit just in case it becomes necessary for the mentor to assist in refereeing the game.
· The mentor should locate all three of the referees assigned to the game and conduct a brief pre-game conference with them, in which he should go over a few pre-game details (such as the length of the match, getting the line-up cards, inspecting the players and the field, and conducting the pre-game ceremony). In the pre-game discussion with the referees, the mentor should also discuss with them his or her role as mentor and what they should expect (placing emphasis on the fact that they are the referees and that the mentor is only there to provide help, advice and support). The mentor should discuss that he will assist them in getting the game started, but then will retreat to the sideline and will not enter the field or otherwise talk with them except at the quarter and half time breaks. However, the mentor should also tell them that if, during a stoppage when the ball is out-of-play, they have a really serious question (related to an interpretation or application of the Laws), that they believe may affect the outcome of the game, they may signal you and you will come onto the field to talk with them. Nonetheless, the mentor should try to discourage that from happening because it will seriously disrupt the flow of the game. The mentor should tell the referees before the game that if they make some mistakes “that is ok, because we all do, and we can talk about them at the quarters or half time break.” The mentor should also tell the referees that he is not there to make judgment calls and that they should not signal him during the game to help them with judgment calls.
· The pre-game conference with the referees should take no more than five minutes and should be conducted while the mentor and referees inspect the field. Always do a pre-game conference and field inspection with the referees even if there is a timing problem. If that results in games running a bit late, we will have to live with that as an appropriate trade-off for properly training our referees.
· Following the pre-game conference, the referees and the mentor should go to the center circle and the mentor should observe, and help if needed, with the pre-game ceremony, including inspection of the player’s equipment. Player equipment inspections for these games should always be done at the halfway line so that the mentor may observe. Discourage the center referee from making any pre-game speeches or giving pre-game instructions to the players (the players don’t need it and generally resent it). The referee should introduce himself or herself, as well as the two assistant referees, and can, of course, respond to any questions that the players may have. The team coaches should be asked to stay in the center circle after the coin-toss so that you can briefly (one minute or less) explain to them, in the presence of the referees, your role and what you expect from them. The coaches will be told about the mentoring program at the pre-season coaches meeting, but not all of the coaches attend that meeting and a few just need to be reminded about what is happening.
· During the match, the mentor should try to maintain as much eye contact with the referee and the ARs as possible. The mentor should be highly visible on the sideline to help control over-enthusiastic coaches and spectators, but should try to stay out of the technical area. If the teams are sitting on opposite sides of the field, the mentor should switch sides before the second half kick-off. The mentor may also walk around the field to the other side without waiting for half time.
· The mentor may briefly meet with the referee and the ARs on the field at the quarter breaks. The mentor should meet with the referee and the ARs during half time. All discussions should be held outside of the hearing of the players, coaches and spectators.
· The mentor should never make any comments to players, coaches or spectators about the referees that is anything other than general and supportive of the referees.
· At all times the mentor should apply the principles of mentoring set forth in Section 4 above.
After the conclusion of the match the mentor should briefly meet with the referees to discuss the match and help them to complete and take care of the necessary paperwork. If the match was the last game that the mentor was assigned to that day, the mentor should take as much time as necessary. If the mentor has another game, the mentor should still take a few minutes before meeting with the next referee team. Again, if that results in games running a bit late, that is an appropriate and necessary trade-off. Nonetheless, mentors are encouraged to try to keep the games running relatively on time. We encourage mentors to provide the referees that they mentor with their telephone number and email for further follow-up. Whether to do that or not is left up to the mentor’s discretion.
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