Preseason Seminar Football Brisbane

Hey folks,

Figured it was time to kickoff the blog again for the football season.  And how better than a overview of the Football Brisbane Senior seminar, held today at Griffith University, Mt Gravatt.

Good turnout, approximately 130 members arrived from 8:30am and we started on time with Ted in command.  Recognition was given to the local's who've achieved FIFA badges for 2013, with the amazing statistic that 45% of FIFA badges allocation for Australia originate from Football Brisbane / Qld.  Des Miles was recoginized for his OAM in the recent Australia Day awards and Jim Bellos National Finalist Local Hero award.

Also announced and recognized were this years attendees to the Dallas Cup in the USA.  Rebecca Durcau, Jason Crow (Kanga alumni 2007) and John Peters (assessor / coach) will represent FB in 201.  According to reports from previous attendees, this is an amazing development opportunity, a huge international tournament (180 teams, 13 countries, U/13 - U19 plus a Super Group) and is a great networking opportunity with referees from across the planet competing. Sounds like Kanga Cup really, just BIGGER like most things American.

Paul Eldridge took us briefly through the 2013 changes to the LOTG.  Perhaps the only challenge in new laws this season will be the tape on socks issue, but consistency in approach will ensure teams adapt to the new changes quickly.

Ted concluded the morning section with range of local instructions.  FB will be implementing the National Key Performance Indicators, sourced from the Refereeing Strategic Plan, specifically:

• Protecting Player Safety
• Protecting the image of the Game
• Being proactive in having a posiive impac on player behaviour
• Dealing with Dissent

We learnt techniques for dissent management, the value of attention to detail in game management (correct distance at FK, onside KO's, TI from where they went out, subs and equipment checking) and a review on Advantage recognition, with lots of quality video examples.

 

 

Mark Shield

After a quick morning tea of networking and renewing friendships, Mark Shield (FFA National Technical Committee Chairman and previously National Director) was present (some say he flew in on his helicopter!!!) to give a update on the Strategic Plan and 2013 priorities.  This was part of a coordinated plan to have FFA representatives attend several State Referee conferences occuring today nationally.  FFA recognized that more communication to grass roots is required and Mark's presentation covered areas such as the new NTC / STC structure, members, National Talent Pool and new pathways into Elite refereeing levels.
I took away that whilst information has been provided several times in 2012 about the new directions for referee development, there is still lots of work to be done to ensure everyone hears, sees and understands the opportunities in referee development, but the future looks to be moving forward.  Mark's passion for football and referee development appears unabaited and it was great to see him again.  Hopefully the updates will be on the FFA's web site soon to allow a wider audience to grasp this years priorities.

Ted briefly covered administrative information about the new appointments system and then we had lunch.
Following some pasta and another coffee, Tony Sarai presented on the value of Financial Planning and generated some ideas for me and others in the room on a issue most of us have given little time to previously.  Always a tough slot to present directly after lunch.

AR Team work and Best Practice was quickly fit in by Ashley and David with videos from the EPL and HAL to focus us back on the role of the AR and offside techniques, specifically:

• Always be in line
• Wait and See
• Give advantage to the attacking team
• Use Peripheral vision
• Consult with the referee and make the decision together

Again, great to hear from the guys at the top of the game currently talk about their experiences recently on the HAL and the challenge of being a AR at this level.

Henry had a brief note about assessments being moved inline with HAL assessments this season and no number / score will be put onto the report.  I agree that this is a positive move by the technical committee, to have referees focus on the content and comments instead of just the metric of a score out of ten.  Certainly this will create lots of discussion at coaching meetings during the year, but again is a example of FB moving forward postively and setting the pace in referee coaching nationally.

Time and lots of content / discussions and questions shortned the schedule, but everyone seemed happy when 4pm rolled around and seminar wrapped up for 2013.  Great to see the new faces of junior referees who are moving up into seniors this year and big shoutout to my lunch crew.

Special mention to Les and Robert who would have won the furthest travelled in the day for the seminar (600km, 6 hours in a car).

Thats it for now - training continues on Tuesday and working towards the fitness test on March 12.  Further seminars for youth and assessors over the next two weeks and preseason matches continue the build up for the season's start early in March.

Did your branch have its seminar today?  If so, would love to hear how it went, who guest starred, how was the food at lunch?

Until next time.