Refereeing workshop by Rebecca Welch
Rebecca Welch, England's number 1 ranked female referee, hosted an online refereeing workshop to help young people get involved in the FA refereeing pathway
On Wednesday 17 February Rebecca Welch ran a free online refereeing workshop introducing the FA refereeing pathway to Palace for Life Premier League Kicks participants.
Rebecca, England’s highest ranked female referee, ran the Referee Workshop to introduce participants to what refereeing is, whilst speaking about her journey from grassroots football to elite international football and how young people can get involved.
Rebecca said: The online referee session has been very popular over the lockdown period within Premier League Kicks, it’s given participants the opportunity to find out just how hard it can be to be a referee and explore an alternative pathway within football.”
The workshop included an introduction into the FA refereeing pathway, and an interactive element which saw participants guess whether a foul was a penalty or not, using real match footage.
After the workshop one parent told us: “My son really enjoyed it and told us lots about it after, he found it really engaging. He said he learnt more about the game from the referees’ point of view which was interesting “
Another parent who took part in the workshop with their foster child, said: “I wanted to introduce him to alternatives [to being a Premier League footballer] and being a referee was one of those ideas. It completely opened his eyes to it and now he is thinking about the training involved and qualifications required. He thoroughly enjoyed it and I was really pleased that he was so involved and asked questions.”
We hope to be able to host further workshops in the future. To find out more about refereeing workshops, and Premier League Kicks, click here.