The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
A VIDEO shared widely on WhatsApp last week showed a referee in Roscommon left sprawled on the ground as the mentor of an under 17 team walked away from him.
The clear implication was that the referee had been seriously assaulted, and the incident led to a referee’s strike in the county last weekend, meaning all games there had to be cancelled,
showing the importance of the oft-maligned referees.
Lack of appreciation of referees is hardly a Roscommon problem exclusively, and there is no doubt that referees across Clare face a great deal of stick too, even if it very rarely goes as far as it did there.
Newmarket’s Seanie McMahon is referee administrator with Clare GAA and was a prominent referee at the highest level for many years.
He says that people expect far more from referees than they do from anyone else involved in sport.
“Referees are going to make mistakes, like players do and managers do, during the course of a game. But it tends to be the case that the referee’s mistake is highlighted, particularly if that mistake is near the end of a game.
“That’s where the education of everybody in the county is needed, that, okay, a referee will make a mistake, but the abuse he will get for that mistake does not correspond that a player would get from his own management team. If a corner-forward misses a goal chance you don’t hear him being abused, or if the corner-back allows the corner-forward to score a goal you don’t hear that level of abuse.”
There needs to be some realism and an acceptance of the fallibility of referees.
“People just have to have a higher level of tolerance of mistakes made by officials, they are human beings. A referee does not deserve to be abused.
“On the morning of a match that man has to get four umpires, to get four he might have to pick from eight or ten people he depends upon on a regular basis.
“If they see a referee getting abused or if the umpire themselves is abused, they’re not going to volunteer their time in the GAA. It’s a matter of education across the board and a level of tolerance.”
He is also concerned that the fact that referees so routinely take stick from players, mentors and supporters, basically everyone interested, will make it harder to get people to take up the whistle.
“The other area I feel abuse impacts on hugely, is the recruitment of referees. In the autumn I’ll hopefully be meeting clubs and talking to them about getting in more referees and to encourage that.
“If people are abusing them, we’re not going to get them in, especially the younger generation.”
On the positive side, he feels that there is a good level of backing from the county board and if there are problems with abuse, they will be dealt with appropriately.
He also has plans to increase the level of mentoring and support for referees.
The standard of Clare refereeing is now much higher than when he started, Seanie believes. “The standard of refereeing in our own county has improved enormously. We’re very fortunate in Clare
that we have a number of good young referees coming up.
“This year we had the honour of Niall Malone refereeing the Munster under 20 hurling final, you had Niall Quinn refereeing the Munster Minor football Final and Chris Maguire refereeing the Munster under 20 football final.
“That’ll tell you the level and standard that they have already achieved. They have the potential to go further and with the mentoring and everything, that should improve things in our county, so more people are added onto that list.”
He feels there is a need to be positive about refereeing, which he says he enjoyed and which offers a lot of satisfaction.
“On a personal basis I enjoyed it while I was doing it, and I did it for around 40 years. It’s an outlet that ex-players and maybe players not getting on teams should consider.
“There is a sense of satisfaction in going out there and controlling a game among 30 players. It’s like being the conductor of an orchestra, the referee conducts the tempo of the game, the referee can control by how he communicates and his decisions how that game is going to go.
“For all referees the first 15 minutes are important, that he lays down a marker, that he is in control, and that the players get to know how that referee is, and he can develop it from there.”
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
