Six of the best: The new intake of referees that came from St Peter Port School. Left to right – Hayden Dempsey, Anthony Hamon, Jill Pritchard, Richard Help, Richard Bourgaize and Ben Le Huray. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0688875)
GUERNSEY football has six new referees recruited from St Peter Port School.
Five students and Jill Pritchard, the school’s head of PE, have undertaken a five-week course with GFA referees revelopment officer Graham Skuse. They will be in the middle for their first GFA games in the early weeks of the New Year.
Pritchard said that she thought that gaining the qualification would be worthwhile, particularly given growing interest in football from girls at school.
Following an initial contact with Skuse, she offered the course to her Year 11 PE group and said that she was pleased with the take-up.
‘There was quite a variation of sporting expertise in the group, but they really worked well, supported each other and had good fun doing the course,’ she said.
The students who passed the course were Richard Bourgaize, Hayden Demp-sey, Anthony Hamon, Ben Le Huray and Richard Help.
The youngsters admit they had much to learn about the rules.
‘I’ve played for quite a long time, but there were many things I thought I knew about football that I didn’t really know,’ said Bourgaize, 15.
‘I learned a lot and I’m sure it will help me as a player,’ said the youngster, who plays for Belgrave Wanderers under-16s.
‘Referees get quite a bit of stick, but if you do the course, you can figure out where they’re coming from when they make a decision,’ said Dempsey, 16, who also plays at Bels.
‘To play and to referee is a natural progression,’ said Skuse.
‘I’m not saying to people they should referee and not be a player – playing is the greatest thing – but you can’t stop yourself getting older and the experience you’ve gained can be put to good use.’
He has targeted students as new referees and has brought through a dozen young officials into the game in recent years.
‘There’s the chance to make a bit of pocket money out of it and the younger you start, the better you can be,’ Skuse said.
‘A lot is said about youth today but these lads and their teacher have been an absolute pleasure to work with. The respect they showed me during the course makes them a credit to St Peter Port School and I wish them well in their refereeing careers.’
The new referees have to referee six youth games before they can receive a complete starter kit from the GFA, supported by Roths-child, which sponsors referees locally.
The GFA is always seeking new referees – Skuse can be contacted through the GFA offices for further information.Guernsey Football Association: Year 11 PE project yields six new refs for the local game
Article posted on 2nd January, 2009 - 2.29pm
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