RUGBY REFEREES

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 226, 19 June 1940, Page 14

RUGBY REFEREES

Amusing Lecture On How

To Attain Perfection

The following bright little skit is taken from a Queensland Rugby programme:— At the outset,of this lecture it should be explained that many of the things said here about referees apply also to linesmen, for referees are ouly linesmen with a high school education. , Referees are usually drawn from the ranks of old-time players who haven t had enough of it. Referees are usual y referred to by football writers as the odd man, and the more one gets to know referees, the more odd they seem. The young man who embarks on the career of referee first, if he is wise, unlocks the old tin trunk and examines his insurance policies. If he has defaulted in his premiums, he immediately takes action to bring them up to date. Having secured a full cover, he kisses his wile and children (if any) a fond and loving goodbye, and is then in a position to face the possibilities with the sense that he has done everything to leave his affairs in order iu the event of the probabilities happening. . No man should undertake the job ot referee without a musical education. He owes it to the public to do everything he can to make football attractive, and unless he widens his repertoire on the whistle to include at least half a dozen tunes he has not done all he should in the interests of the game. “Nellie Bly,” “Silver Threads Among the Gold,” and a full selection of Mrs. Hemans’s pieces constitute a nice range for the conscientious referee. As well as a musical education, the ideal referee will set about making himself a combination of “Young” Stribling and Al Karasick, and till he has done this he cannot be sure that he ’will properly control any game of football, specially in the junior grades, where most referees have to serve their apprenticechip. In addition to complete knowledge of boxing and wrestling under rules, it is also advisable that he learn to throw a bottle, whether empty or full, accurately, and to wield a fence paling to the best advantage. . . As regards the rules of football, it is generally held that a referee, to be a proper referee, should know the rules from A to Z, but this is pure theory. The less the referee knows about the rules, sometimes the better. The proof of this is the success of a number of referees who don’t know the first or last thing about ’em. In case anybody should doubt the truth of this’axioin, it is possible to bring along several members of defeated teams who will be willing to give evidence on oath to this effect. International Honours. The highest honour that any referee can attain is an international match; but usually this honour does not come to the average referee till he has proved himself. By proving himself we mean serving years and years and years at 1 the refereeing game. By the time he han proved himself, the referee is likely to be somewhat decrepit and senile, and therefore in the average state of an international referee. Still, it is all for the good of the game, for the mere fact of his having charge increases the gate by a large percentage, due to the presence of numberless descendants, from children to great-grandchildren, of the icfcree. On the matter of the job itself, many referees indulge in the practice of lecturing difficult players ou the rules, etc., iu the course of the game, but the proper effect of their tuition is often lost because tiie players are not able to grasp the drift of the referee’s remarks. ■ To Obviate this, the fully-equipped referee invariably carries a large blackboard under his arm throughout the game, ami when he finds it necessary to lecture the players, he makes it a blackboard leetore, which is much more graphic ami effective than one confined to word of mouth. This system is not general y followed, but all the best referees should do it. , ~ Many referees err on the side of harshness in dealing with recalcitrant players. In sending' a man off the field, for instance, they do it abruptly and without ceremony. This lecturer holds the opinion’that the good referee always shows that there is no personal feeling about the matter by fareweliing the departing player just like one would one s own wile. A gentle kiss on the cheek or forehead, or even on the lips, given by the referee to the man leaving the field, would make for much better feeling all round, if it became a general practice. In conclusion, the young referee should remember not to use his whistle too much in the course of a game. In fact, if evcr y young referee would only leave his footer In the dressing shed, it would be much better for the game.