Refereeing

[Mareese]

I am interested in developing a referee course in BC, Canada. Are there any free/cheap resources available for this purpose? Are there any guidelines for developing a local certification system even though I am not an ICF referee but have quite a lot of refereeing experience?

[michielv]

judging from the courses given in Holland all you need is a qualified referee who can explain the rules and come up with some questions/discussions.

Most of our courses consist of discussing the rules and coming up with situations we have experienced in the past.

Then again, our courses are given by (former) ICF referees (Frits Jager, Buddy Wielstra and last but not least Alfons Barnhoorn).

It looks like we need some sort of a referee's teachers examn.

Anyway, perhaps Clyde has some material on organising a ref course?

[Cormac]

Ello Mareese,

Try contacting Tom Colton, he might be able to get a copy of the Refereeing video he made which is used here for teaching the rules. The irish courses involve, going through the rules and discussing them then using the video to spot the infringements.

[Jeff Cottrell]

I play in Sydney Australian and have been trying to sit for an exam for 6 or 7 years I refused to do the exam we had up to about 3 years ago because it was too ambiguous. The Sydney committee did try to develop an exam and got 75% of the work done but it has gone nowhere. I would have like to get it finalized but find it a little strange that an unqualified person would set an exam and then sit for it.
The inability of the ICF to provide a referee’s exam that can be used internationally to qualify referees at various levels explains why canoe polo is not treated as a serious sport. The excuse that there are different interpretations of the rules only means there are different correct answers to the exam. You should probably direct this question to the ICF.

[Katherine]

Hi Mareese,

You could try contacting the New Zealand ref coordinator. I only have a link to them through the NZ Canoe Polo pages:

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Gym/5229/

Also, the US has a refs exam. I'm not sure who has the copies right now, but you could try contacting Brad Carr at polobc@hotmail.com.

Cheers,
Katherine.