Football refereeing changed my life. For the better.
How more than 10 years spent running on football grounds made me become the person I am today.
There is no doubt that football (or soccer if you like) is the world’s most popular sport. The FIFA website reports that over half of the global population saw coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, this means around a whopping 3.5 billion people, 51.3% of the global population watched some football over the summer of 2018.
All these people tuned in to admire France’s heroics to overcome a gallant Croatian team. And whilst everyone can appreciate the skills of players like Mbappe or Griezmann, not enough people stop to appreciate the skills of the many referees that are part of this tournament.
The amount of work and sacrifices these individuals make to reach the pinnacle of international football are unbelievable. These referees have dedicated their lives to one of the most hated and controversial jobs in sports so that 3.5 billion people could enjoy football.
I have spent over 10 years doing that same job in Italy and Australia’s domestic leagues. I started my adventure in Milan, Italy, circa 2008, and since then I have turned into a completely different person.
Back then I was quite shy, very self-conscious and lacked any type of real confidence. Today I’m the exact opposite of that 19 years old, and I owe it all to football refereeing. This is what I learned.
Communication
Many may think that in order to referee a football match all you need to do is know the rules, blow a whistle and show a card. If you’re one of them, sorry to break it to you, but you couldn’t be any wronger.
You have to make sure your message gets across clearly
When you’re out on the field you have to interact with players, coaches and the other referees part of your team. Communication is pivotal in a successful performance. Players at any level, from juniors through to elite expect to be listened to and are never shy when it comes to express their opinion to an official. Referees need to be able to build relationships with all of the parties on the field to control the game and communicate effectively. When you watch a game you don’t notice how referees talk to players, especially when they do it away from the spotlight. The importance of effective communication on the pitch becomes paramount for those who aspire to reach elite levels both in refereeing and real life. Through refereeing, I learned how to be understood quickly without beating around the bush. Maximum results minimum efforts. At the same time, I learned how to understand players’ moods and how to approach tough individuals. All of this is no different to what we deal with in our everyday lives, referees practice this week in, week out.
Decision making
During a match, officials are called to make an incredible number of decisions which all have direct consequences on the outcome of a game.
According to the PGMO (Professional Game Match Officials) Premier League referee makes around 245 decisions per game, three times more than an average player touches the ball over 90 minutes. That’s one decision every 22 seconds.
I slowly started behaving more and more like a referee at work, stepping up when a decision had to be made and having the mental strength and confidence to act.
Many young people start refereeing in their teens as I did or even younger, and most life decisions you make can always be rectified if they turn out to be wrong. On the field of play, that’s not the case: it doesn’t matter how hard it is but you have to make a call. Even not making a call is a decision.
Refeering strengthened my self-confidence when making decisions on the pitch, it forced me to make decisions in any circumstance by putting me under the spotlight. That transferred across to real life. I slowly started behaving more and more like a referee at work, I started making decisions independently whenever I was able to, most of which luckily were right, improving my productivity and reliability. To this day it is still recognised as one of my biggest strengths.
Resilience and mental toughness
There is no need to lie, referees make mistakes. Lots of em. So does everyone, every day. The big difference is that when you are a football referee, everyone is judging you and every single decision you make.
The pressure that comes along with refereeing a football match is incredible, at every level referees will always be under scrutiny and most of the times criticised, whether they’re right or wrong.
Thanks to the exposure social media and cable tv give to football, any decision an official makes will go viral within minutes of it happening. Sure, when I started Facebook & co. weren’t as strong but coming from a country where football is bigger than religion, we’d cop battering left, right and centre from local newspapers and local radio stations.
This kind of exposure has strengthened me incredibly. Many times I have been publicly criticised, had fingers pointed at and even had people stopping me in the middle of the road telling me I was wrong in last weekend’s game. I had to build thick skin or I wouldn’t have been able to go referee the following weeks. Sadly many stop officiating because of this criticism, but you’re one of those who keep going you’ll build your resilience and mental toughness to levels that you would have not expected when you started.
Having the strength to stand back up after a mistake and dealing with all the criticism plays a great role in workplaces. Especially as a designer when you have to please all of your stakeholders' fantasies having such thick skin helped me going through a lot.
Performing under pressure
Being a referee has taught me how to deal with any sort of pressure in my life. During a 90 minutes match, a referee runs an average of 12km alternating full-speed sprinting, jogging and sometimes just standing. This is very demanding at the elite level considering the speed players run at. On top of that add players and team officials complaining about anything you do, add a roaring crowd, being streamed on television and online and making a decision every 22 seconds, and you’ll have the perfect recipe for a stressful experience. Many would crumble under this sort of pressure, but referees have been trained their entire career to cut out the noise, the camera lights, and focus on the game and making the right decision.
This doesn’t happen overnight but through years and years of stepping through different levels and competitions domestically and internationally. Learning how to deal with external pressure, focusing on your performance and on what is in your control is fundamental for high performing roles where the stake in place are high, both in a work and home environments.
Common sense
Common sense is a dying skill. You can’t teach it in a class, some may learn overtime but unfortunately, fewer people every day value the use of common sense. There are things in life that don’t have an answer or even a guideline on how to be dealt with.
Refereeing taught me that there are situations where you have to do the right thing for the game. I learned when to break the rules for the good of the game because sometimes you just have to use good sense and sound judgment about a situation. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution, but being able to use common sense to see that it’s not that common.
Conclusion
Refereeing has been an amazing experience, these are just some skills that this discipline has made me develop over the years. When I look back at the decision I made to take on refereeing as a hobby, I had no idea what expected me. I couldn’t be any more grateful for it. The things I learned, the experiences I lived and the memories that I will keep with me forever are priceless, and I wish more people could see who referee really are.
I hope this article gave you a good insight from a different point of view on one of the most controversial roles in the world of sport.
