Scarcity of match officials starting to pose big problems

MANY BELIEVE that Wexford G.A.A. is heading into a crisis with regard to the decreasing number of existing referees and the lack of new ones coming on board. The gravity of the situation with regard to the scarcity of match referees has been borne out over the two weekends of championship football action.

The age profile of referees is obviously increasing and also the number staying on as referees is decreasing. With the increasing number of games both at adult and under-age levels, the demand on referees is also rising.

Many clubs do not have an active referee for adult levels, which in turn has led to many referees being promoted to take charge of games for which they neither have the ability or fitness, nor knowledge of the playing rules.

While it will be claimed they will have passed the various fitness tests and exams on playing rules, this has not been brought to the playing pitches where many officials operate between the two ‘45s, while they certainly do not demonstrate a knowledge of the playing rules, particularly in football, as one has witnessed over the past two weekends.

Recruiting referees to follow in the footsteps of All-Ireland final referees James Owens, Dickie Murphy and Brian White is seemingly becoming more and more difficult.

One will hear several reasons regarding the problems being faced, such as the abuse of match officials and the lack of a support base, particularly the lack of an input from the higher levels of the Association in the county, who appear to be somewhat in denial with regard to the problems being currently faced, but even more importantly, the problems that lie down the road.

It’s a recurring theme in the reports of county Secretaries and Chairpersons at County G.A.A. Conventions, although we in Wexford would be unable to appraise you of the local debate seeing that county Conventions have not been covered by the print media over the past two years as we are not welcome.

Still, one would have to come to the conclusion that whatever, if anything was discussed, the standard of refereeing in the county is on the decrease.

In a further warning, once one takes a glance through the match officials each week, the lack of young referees, coupled with the age profile, certainly puts Wexford into the crisis category.

The recent fears can be attributed to many factors, but with the majority of referees now in the 50 to 60 years age bracket, the growing problem has increased year by year.

And the rising age profile has led to a drop in standards, which partly in my view can be attributed to the lack of an action plan from Wexford G.A.A’s top table.

Over the two weekends of football championship action, one has to be alarmed at the drop in standards. Gaelic football is a physical game, played within the rules, but as the rules were implemented, it now seems easier to receive a yellow card followed by a red than in soccer.

So many now interpret it as a game with a lack of physical impact, one marred by diving and played out as a non-contact sport.

The low percentage of young people willing to take up the whistle has contributed to the crisis. This must have echoed the fears through the Association in the county about a refereeing shortage.

What has contributed to the crisis? While a referee can deal with events on the field, a big difficulty has been the behaviour of mentors and supporters, with a particular emphasis on under-age matches.

The situation has reached crisis point as our already small group of referees continues to be depleted, partly in my view down, not just to the behaviour of a not insignificant cohort of parents and mentors, but also the lack of standards being reached by current match officials.

The G.A.A. is facing a real dilemma and the championship season is only two weeks old. Do the G.A.A. accept the low standards of refereeing, all of which contribute to many of the decisions which bring frustration to players, mentors and supporters? They remonstrate over decisions and rightly so on the majority of occasions.

The G.A.A. has an age profile cut-off at inter-county Senior level, but were Wexford to adopt a similar approach many games would not have match officials, leading to mayhem in the county.