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Wayne Joseph excels as FIFA referees course concludes
Wayne Joseph
Wayne Joseph out performed a field of 38 referees to emerge as the top performer when the FIFA MA Elite Referees Course, which got started on November 24, concluded at the GNS Sports Complex, Carifesta Avenue yesterday morning.
Venton Mars excelled in the fitness department completing the 40 meters sprint in 4.9 seconds while Mark Young was adjudged the most promising referee.
Nicola Smith earned a prize for the most outstanding runner while Roy McCarter was commended for completing the fitness run despite undergoing severe constraints.
The course was conducted under the auspices of FIFA and facilitated by instructors, Jamaican, Peter Prendergast and Trinidadians, Merere Gonsalves and Ramesh Ramdhan.
During the two week course, participants were exposed to the intricacies of refereeing as well as rigid physical fitness exercises.
In an invited comment moments after being adjudged the best graduating referee, Joseph said that the programme had been well administered and all of the participants benefited immensely. He said that this augers well for the future of the sport as in the past officials have been criticized for some decisions.
He dubbed the course as high intensive and feels that the referees are now better equipped to officiate at games after such rigid exposure.
Joseph singled out the fitness run for special mention. In this event participants were required to run a total of six, 40 meters sprints, in a minimum time of 6.2 seconds.
While all of the participants managed to achieve this feat, some faltered in the other exercise which he said was highly demanding. Here the referees were asked to complete a total of 20, two hundred meters sprints.
They were required to sprint over a distance of 150 meters in a minimum time of 30 seconds. Thereafter they were given a 35 seconds respite. During this time they were told that they could not stand still.
All told this segment of the fitness programme entailed 10 laps of this kind of activity. This segment was extremely demanding and in the end only seventy five percent of the participants qualified.
Knowledge of the game was another aspect of the training that produced excellent results. The referees were allowed to view football matches and identify the rules that were being infringed. They were also exposed to video analysis, practical training, misconduct and reckless challenges among others.
At the end of the course the referees were given valuable practical experience when they were given the opportunity to officiate at an impromptu match. All of the outstanding performers were presented with special prizes.
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