Wanderers Club, Johannesburg

Saturday 20^th and Sunday 21^st January 2018

22 referees from around the country attended an informative refereeing workshop at the Wanderers Club, Johannesburg at the weekend.

The experienced Mike Collins, Craig Sadler and Alex Hewitson handled the programme of varied topics ranging from Basic Competencies: the Role and Qualities of the Technical Official: stress: Mistakes Referees make: CBTA:  Mentoring and its importance: the 3 Referee System: the PSA Referee System: Analysing Movement: Conduct on Court: Injury Rule: Player /Referee interaction : Should the Coach know the Rules : with great aplomb.

Craig van der Wath gave a thought provoking presentation with some  twists  *  Players can make lots of errors when playing but no-one really remembers and it does not matter BUT let the Referee make a mistake, everyone remembers and it matters.  Referees are inclined to tell the players they cannot do things, e.g. leave the court, block the opponent, etc. The  player can do anything, BUT there is a consequence.  The referee has a difficult task: the players are the participants –  the referee is there to ensure there is fair play according to the rules of the game  and sometimes in so doing he/she has to predict the future, e.g. would the player have got to the ball.  The referee is not there to advise or instruct nor does he/she have the responsibility to mould or shape the game.  There is a great need for referees as players more often than not overestimate their ability  and underestimate their opponent’s ability.