Mentoring & Volunteering
Staffordshire FA provides newly qualified officials with the opportunity to receive mentoring support from already qualified officials.
The mentor programme provides support and offers guidance to newly qualified referees during their first 5 training matches.
The first training matches for newly qualified referees are a key factor in whether they will continue refereeing once they have fully completed the course. Refereeing your first game will always be a nervous time and knowing that there is a supportive figure either at the game or a point of contact before and after the match itself.
It is important to offer words of encouragement and to be able to praise the strengths in the referees’ game to help boost their confidence for their next match. It is also important to offer advice on a small area of development and give the referee something to work on for their next game.
A mentor can be someone who has years of refereeing experience or someone who has completed the course in the past 12 months or so as they will have recently been through the process themselves.
As a mentor you will be allocated a trainee referee who has successfully completed the practical and theory parts of the basic referee training course and is ready to begin their initial 5 matches.
If you wish to be a mentor and you believe you possess the desirable characteristics of a good mentor please contact the Staffordshire FA Referee Development Officer.
Want to Find out more?
Yes! All mentors will be required to obtain or hold a valid and in-date FA specific Criminal Records Check and Safeguarding qualification. As part of your support and qualification, Staffordshire FA will provide the funds for these to be obtained and updated when necessary.
No. We will provide CPD training to keep you up to date with any law changes that are introduced in any given season. If you have completed your referee qualification you are eligible to become a mentor.
In order to become a Referee Mentor you will be required to attend a 3 hour workshop delivered by the Staffordshire FA Referee Development Team. The workshop will provide you with an insight into best practice for supporting referees of all ages and experiences.
