North Riding County FA are committed to ensuring new match officials are provided with the utmost support in the early stages of their careers

Our mentoring workforce has a desire and commitment to help and support the next generation of North Riding’s refereeing workforce.

From the forthcoming 2020/2021 season, the new Mentoring Scheme will offer stability and long-term support to referees going through a transition period in their qualification and embarking on their new challenge. Mentors will provide a listening ear, advice and support, as well as being the direct point of contact, and can therefore have a very important impact on their career.  Referee Mentors are paid a small fee per referee that they support. 

Our Referee Mentoring Programme is headed up by both Geoff Mann (Head of Mentoring – North) & James Unwin (Head of Mentoring – South), experienced referees and developers, to ensure we can offer the very best levels of support. 

Who Can become a Referees Mentor?

We are happy to accept applications from any current referee who is 18 years of age or older, or any recently retired referee who feels they can offer some time and support. 

Alternatively, any referee or referee developer who would like to come back into the game and support our newly-qualified referees is also welcome to apply.   

All Referee Mentors will be required to have an in date FA DBS and a Safeguarding Children (SGC) qualification before we can allow individuals to undertake the role. North Riding County FA will help support those interested gain these requirements.  

Ross Joyce, Referee Development Manager, said: “We are very proud of our referee mentoring programme and that of our volunteer workforce who provide some excellent support both on and off the field. We are now training a record number of referees per year and are always looking to recruit additional mentors to support our newly-qualified referees in their early development. We have put in place a number of initiatives over the past few years, namely our Under-18 referee armbands, 24 Hour support hotline, referee online educational platform & partnerships with our local Referee Association branches to ensure we can provide as much and the best possible support that we can. 

“At the beginning of last season, we appointed both Geoff & James to head up our mentoring programme and ensure our newly qualified referees could receive the appropriate support. Moving into the forthcoming season, it is clear that we require additional Referee Mentors to support the large number of new referees that we have recently recruited.”  

Ahead of the 2020/21 season, we have arranged a couple of pre-season remote (Zoom) workshops for existing Referee Mentors and anybody who would like to become a Referees Mentor.   

The dates of the Zoom workshops are as follows; 

Friday 18 September - 18:00 – 19:00 

Monday 28 September - 18:00 – 19:00 

To register your interest and attend one of the workshops to support the next generation of referees within North Riding County FA, please complete the below application form; 

https://rb.gy/3wchef  

For further information on our Referee Mentoring programme, please contact either Geoff or James on the below details for an informal chat; 

Geoff Mann: Head of Mentoring – North (geoff.mann@northridingfa.com or 07949 009912) Covering Teesside & Dales 

James Unwin: Head of Mentoring – South (james.unwin@northridingfa.com or 07894 019145) Covering York & Scarborough