1. Effective Communication by Match Officials
Prepared by: James Keast, Chief Assessor
2006 Refresher Module
Presented to the Halifax Dartmouth Referees’ Association Refresher module on May 4th, 2006
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

2. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Communication
Who do we need to communicate with?
What do we communicate?
When does this communication need to take place?
How should we communicate?
Communication and Game Management
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

3. Who do we communicate with?
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

4. Who do we communicate with?
Assistant Referees and the 4th Official
Coaches and other team staff
Players
Facility management
Spectators?
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

5. Assistant Referees & 4th Official
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

6. Assistant Referees & 4th Official
Arrival at the game
Pre-game instructions
During the game:
At stoppages
During active play
At half time
After the game
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

7. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Arrival at Game
Arrive in plenty of time to do all your duties and to meet with the other officials
Its appropriate for there to be a social atmosphere with your fellow officials, be friendly and take the time to talk to each other
At some point the referee must make the transition to game time and this is best done with pre-game instructions
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

8. Pre-Game Instructions
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

9. Pre-Game Instructions
Some level of pre-game instructions should be done for every game
Cover the fundamental expectations around offside, ball out of play, substitutions, fouls, misconduct
We know everyone knows this but repetition helps – and this sets the tone for the game….
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

10. … pre-game instructions
Cover any special substitution rules
Cover any special competition rules (does there need to be a winner?)
Discuss any expectations about the importance of the game, the key players etc.
Be sure to ask the ARs if they have questions
Remember to remind them to have fun
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

11. During Game Communication With ARs and 4th
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

12. During Game Communication With ARs and 4th
Standard flag signals
Eye contact at every stoppage
Eye contact during active play
Especially during tense moments
Subtle signals from the AR to the Referee
Communicating things the Referee has not seen
Verbal communication when necessary
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

13. Half Time Communication With ARs and 4th
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

14. Half Time Communication With ARs and 4th
Take time at half time to check with your assistants about:
How the game is going
Anything you need them to do differently
Anything you might have missed
Any problems in the game so far
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

15. Full Time Communication With ARs and 4th
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

16. Full Time Communication With ARs and 4th
Take time after the game to talk about:
How the game went
Any flash points
Be sure to ask if they have any suggestions about how you can improve
As an Assistant be sure to provide good constructive advice
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17. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Coaches and Team Staff
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

18. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Coaches and Team Staff
Before the game
During the game
After the game
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

19. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Coaches and Team Staff
Before the game
Introduce yourself and the assistants when you pick up the game sheets
Polite, friendly, brief (same for both teams)
Politely remind them where the technical area is
Remind them of any special rules
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

20. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Coaches and Team Staff
During the game
Shouldn’t be necessary, but if there are problems, politely warn the bench staff, remind them they can give tactical instructions to their players but must behave responsibly
If you warn the bench, you must follow through if the behaviour continues or worsens
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

21. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Coaches and Team Staff
After the game:
Return game sheets, game balls etc to the teams.
If the situation allows there is nothing wrong with answering polite legitimate questions about what you called – this is up to you
Officials should depart as a team
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

22. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Players
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

23. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Players
Before the game
During the game
After the game
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

24. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Players
Before the game
Be friendly during pre-game checks
Introduce yourself and ARs to captain
During the game
Talk to players to facilitate game management (more later)
After the game
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

25. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Spectators
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

26. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Spectators
Generally avoid interacting with spectators.
Any spectators who are impacting game control (interacting with players etc.) or causing you a major problem, have the home team remove them.
This is especially the case in youth games.
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

27. Communication and Game Management
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

28. Communication and Game Management
Communication is critical to game control
Use your voice to calm players down when they are getting excited:
“easy”, “keep the hands down”, “no..”
Use your voice and arm signals for advantage
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

29. Communication and Game Management
If there is a major challenge but no foul sometimes it is appropriate to use your voice to indicate there was no foul:
“nothing there, fair challenge”
Tell them you saw a ball off the chest not arm…
Don’t over-use this
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

30. Communication and Game Management
Sometimes the players really don’t know what the foul was use or voice or some small gesture to tell them:
“you need to go straight up”
Indicate hand-ball if it is not obvious
Don’t over-use this
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31. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Never…
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

32. Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee
Never
Be emotional (appearing emotional is different)
shout at players or coaches
threaten players or coaches “next time….”
shake your finger at players or coaches or wave them away dismissively
embarrass players or coaches
When giving cards it is not necessary for them to come to you
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33. Communicating without saying anything…
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee

34. Communicating without saying anything…
When walking, walk with purpose, upright and confident
When running, run like a Referee not a player: head up and in control
Give 100% effort – communicates that you care
Smile when it’s appropriate
It is ok for you to have fun
Use humour with the players and coaches, carefully
Soccer Nova Scotia Referee Development Committee