Football Federation kicks off assistance referees training

DPI, Guyana, Wednessday, August 29, 2018

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) today opened a training programme that will facilitate twenty-eight referees from across the country along with five instructors. The five-day workshop will see the referees engaging in a series of fitness tests.

The president of the Guyana Football Federation, Wayne Ford in his opening remarks noted that the development of local referees is an important objective of the Guyana Football Federation.

He urged them to remain steadfast. “Your commitment is to the protection of the game and doing a brilliant job for ninety minutes is just one part of keeping that commitment.”

Ford also encouraged the referees to use the opportunity to learn more about their profession, “I want to ask you all to be attentive, use every opportunity to ask questions.  Maximize the benefits that will come from this programme and ensure that at the conclusion of this programme you are much better than when you would have entered.”

The instructor of the workshop, Peter Prendergast noted that “the referee programme encourages full participation, it’s not monologues, but a dialogue and the primary objectives of the course is to professionalize the environment in which referees operate.”

Prendergast, a Jamaican who has served as a FIFA referee, said the workshop seeks to ensure that the standard operating procedures for referees are consistent so that “when we see the referees on the field of play they are actually doing what is required.”

This referee programme is a major initiative in educating and lifting the standard of refereeing locally and international.

By: Teresa Newton.

Image: Jules Gibson.