Northern NSW best young match officials participated at the Telstra State Championships for Girls this weekend in Coffs Harbour.
Fifteen young match officials, under the age of 18, were chosen from applications across all referee branches in Northern NSW.
The fifteen that were chosen to officiate the State Championships, also were selected for the Talented Official Program (TOP) camp, where they were given specialised coaching and assessments on their performances as referees, assistant referees and as fourth officials.
Coaches at the TOP camp included Luke Mackney, Alison Macready, Kirralee Andruschak and Brad Carlin.
Coaching has been provided on the laws of the game, player management, optimal positioning by the referee, team work between the match officials, advancing skills with flag work, whistle blowing techniques and wall management.
The referees have been assessed on every single match during the State Championships and have had a de-brief session with the assessor at the end of each game of which they have officiated.
There has also been a coaching session held after dinner on each night of the camp where the referees have reinforced the things that they have been doing well and the areas of their performance on which they need to focus on.
NNSWF Premier Competition Match Official Coordinator, Brad Carlin, was overly pleased on how the young match officials had been performing across the weekend.
“It is has been pleasing to see how well these talented young referees have responded to the coaching and assessment that they have been given over the weekend. As evidenced by the improvement in their performances and the very high standard of officiating that has been on display,” Carlin said.
