Appointment

[Arabcheif]

Fellow refs, I've had my 1st appointment from my society. It's an U-16 match. It's a few weeks away so I'll be familiarising myself with the U-19 variations between now and then. Any other advice as to how to interact with the boys?

[Flish]

They’ll often want to be treat like men (but aren’t) if any form of heat in the game then use time to your advantage and let heads cool down. Other than that enjoy, U16 can equally be one of the most respectful and attentive age groups, help them with what you want if you can.

[crossref]

Good luck !
Don't tell them it's your first game

Rehearse in your head your PMB and your routine, so that it's fluent

Think about the kick off and imagine in your head all the different scenarios and what the decision is .. the idea is to get off to a good start , whatever happens you are not surprised by it

[Decorily]

Is this your 1st ever game?

[Dickie E]

Use the captains. At that age they may be used to the coach making all the decisions. Let the captains know you'll be expecting to see their onfield leadership. Find out if they are the regular captain (good) or just drew the short straw this week (bad).

[SimonSmith]

Maintain standards.

Some referees, when they have Ladies or Youth, tend to lower standards and allow things that they wouldn't for adult men. "Ach, it's kids..." seems to be the mindset.

I have 2 issues with that:
1. It's a great way to let a game get away from you.
2. It's disrespectful: they deserve your best game, and you can help make their game better.

Oh - and don't stand for backchat.

[Rich_NL]

U16 can be a delight or a nightmare, depending on the ratio of hormones:technique.

All good advice here. Don't get drawn into arguments or tolerate disrespect/unsportsmanlike behaviour, keep standards up, be firm but fair. Two of my best games last year were that age group

[beckett50]

Be aware of 'sledging' and stamp on it early. I would suggest covering it at the PMB with the Captains as then you have the reason to PK the first occurrence.

This type of verbal thuggery can lead to flash points that you don't need. It is unsportsmanlike and unwarranted in our game. Even the Australians have stopped doing it (although they have not stopped winning the Ashes )

[didds]

As a coach of U16 age groups in recent years...

lots of good advice above !

* DO treat it as a real game
* DO NOT back off cos "its only kids"
* DO bone up on the U16 regs/laws (and I see you are :-) )
* Tolerate NO shit of ANY type.
* SMILE. JOKE - when appropriate.
* DONT'T be a school master - but be very firm and explain appropriately.

And of course enjoy it. Expect the pace of the game to be high, but quite a lot of tunrover. (This is generalising - some U16 squads are better than senior men!)

But really, really do understand what is a scrum, what is a FK, what is a PK. Possibly the worst reffing display I saw last year was a coach/ref that just awarded FKs for almost everything. He gave the impression of being out of his depth, to the extent that many of our players were asking us (their coaches) why a knock-on was now a FK and why offside was a FK etc etc because they were confused OR thought/knew the ref was wrong and was a twat. (we did our best to keep them focused!).

Have a great game. You have the advantage that you are still an active player and there for within a low multiple of their own age ;-)

didds

[SimonSmith]

Out of interest, is this club or School? It may make a difference.