A stark warning: either clubs provide refs or the Carbery board will have to cut its programme of games
A MAJOR problem facing not only the Carbery Board but also the GAA in general is the growing lack of referees.
Without referees, you won’t have any games and that’s the simple truth. Over the past few decades, the number of games being played at both underage and adult levels has increased enormously.
Take into account that the same football and hurling referees are also covering camogie and ladies football and one realises the huge demand on the present small band of referees. In no way has the number of referees grown in proportion with the number of games. We can’t ignore either that the present age profile of referees is not encouraging, with many having given years of service but having to continue to fill in the gap left by the lack of new younger referees.
Recent attempts by various bodies in the GAA to recruit new referees have definitely not achieved the necessary goal and the reasons are varied as to why not. Modern society, unfortunately, does not tend towards volunteerism, nor does it show too much respect for those in authority. Abuse of referees is high on the list of why retiring players do not take up refereeing, despite commendable efforts to stamp it out by those in charge. Continuous fiddling with the rules and putting the onus on referees is a stumbling block as are the demands from those in charge of teams for perfection on the part of referees. Keyboard warriors with their online criticism and abuse isn’t helping either.
Trying to implement the new rules this season isn’t calculated to help the refereeing situation as referees now will not be happy to officiate at championship games unless they have qualified fellow-referees to run the sidelines. That will mean three qualified referees for every championship game.
Let’s look at that problem in a practical way. The Carbery U21 football championships are due to begin on Sunday, February 9th, with a dozen games down for decision. The games will be played under the new rules so referees will look for qualified referees as linesmen to help to implement the new rules properly. That would necessitate 36 referees in action in those games. The Carbery Board doesn’t have 36 referees available or anything near that number.
Carbery requested permission from the county board to fix some of the games for Friday night, under lights, only to be told that the championship guidelines don’t allow that – the games can only be played on Sunday. That guideline, of course, was put in place only to facilitate the county U20 management teams. A handful of county players getting priority over large numbers of club players. So what will the Carbery Board do?
This is just the beginning of the season. What will the board do for referees during the club championship months of July to October when those referees will also have to referee county board games, underage games, camogie and ladies football?
One aspect of the refereeing problem that is rarely recognised is that county and divisional boards are on their own in trying to solve the problem, to divert the tsunami that is definitely heading our way. There is no shortage of referees at inter-county level because all ambitious referees want to reach inter-county status. The only problem to be dealt with there is the standard of the refereeing. That means Croke Park authorities are not really having to deal with the problem of a lack of referees and it is then left to the county and divisional boards to come up with solutions. That is not an easy task with a ready-made answer.
The most promising solution has been the recruitment of secondary school kids, especially in transition year, to referee the very young age groups like U7 to U10. This introduces young adult players to refereeing but it is very hit and miss in many clubs.
The question must also be asked as to why there are not more female referees in the system, in particular for camogie and ladies football? We could count on the fingers of one hand the number of female referees we have seen in action, none in male games, in Carbery over the past decade. Surely, the camogie and ladies football organisations must be proactive in recruiting more female referees and female referees would be very welcome in football and hurling circles.
Carbery has always been recognised as a football division, hurling the poor relation, especially in the western half of the division. The result is a disturbing lack of hurling referees in Carbery. The small band of hurling referees, all of whom also cover football, are in constant demand and frequently, many phonecalls have to be made to acquire referees for hurling games. This is particularly so in the west with only three hurling referees covering the whole western half of Carbery. What are the rewards for a hurling referee in Carbery?
Apart from refereeing a divisional final, this year young referee Shane Scanlon of Newcestown, was chosen to referee the county senior hurling final between Sars and Imokilly, the highest honour for a hurling referee within the county. He was the first referee from Carbery ever to achieve that honour and proves that there is a path to the top for Carbery hurling referees.
If you cry wolf too often, nobody listens and the Carbery Board has been crying ‘wolf’ as regards referees for many years now. Many clubs have stopped listening and don’t provide any referees to the system. This cannot be allowed to continue if the board hopes to deliver the programme of games it presently does. Something must give. Either the clubs provide the referees or the board cuts its programme of games, it’s as black and white as that.
