Did he really show a red card? Rodric Leerling

Another rookie ref close to receiving his Dutch FA ref badge and the green light to ref games on his own. We bumped into each other at the sports complex – two guys who typically didn’t belong to either the club nor a team preparing to play.

Mentoring a rookie ref again after a year – Rodric Leerling

To my surprise I was assigned to a rookie referee I accompanied at one of her first matches for the Dutch FA, late 2016. She proved to have made big progress.

A first: being harassed as ref mentor – Rodric Leerling

Assigned as his mentor,  I looked over the ref’s shoulder while performing the player pass check. I might have made a comment on a missing picture, but nothing really negative. 

“I decided to start a course in referee coaching” – Rodric Leerling

After 13 odd years, it’s time to think of next steps in refereeing. Been active now at field, beach and indoor football, seen most clubs and sport centers in the area. And I’m getting older.

So I decided to see if I´m capable helping young refs with their career start. Applied for a new course and got accepted. First session last week was to prepare the new ref coaches what to expect during four sessions with aspirant referees. We will join their course sessions and accompany them at their first matches for the Dutch FA and help them deal with both practical things and how to lead a game for real.

I suggested starting using video for this purpose. Nobody thought of this before, apparently. Using your smartphone should be enough to review some critical moments or trends in game management. Let’s see how this works out. Plenty of stories to tell, no doubt. Watch this space!