John Brooks visit
Don't know who John is? Read more about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brooks_(referee)
Here are some of his stats from this season!
https://www.soccerbase.com/referees/referee.sd?referee_id=1737&season_id=151
Here is some information about all the games he has been an official on!
Pictures from John's visit
Our visit from John by Celine and Frank
When John came in he showed us some things. He showed us a white spray which vanished if you left it for a long time, he sprayed the white spray so the players on the pitch so players do not cheat and move forwards.
He wears different coloured shirts at different matches because he can’t wear the same coloured shirt as the players. The four shirt colours are lime, black, blue and red.
We remade some of the things he showed us like the cards and then we all showed it to the class.
He also showed the flags it made a high pitch noise like a whistle.
You can be a referee when you're 14 years old, he has been a referee for 14 years! If you want to become a referee, contact Staffs FA. You can use the link to find out more! http://www.staffordshirefa.com/referees/development-and-courses/the-fa-referees-course
Referees and communication by Poppy and Leo
A referee works in a team of 4. The referee, two assistant referees who run the line and a 4th official who stands in the technical area. They communicate by a head set, so they can talk to each other. They might need to talk to eachother about a goal or an offside. We got to see John's headset and talk to him through it. The 4th official will use the headset to tell the referee that they need to make a substitue or to tell them how much time needs to be added onto the end of a match.
Teamwork by Hasenat and Olivia
We had to work as a team to make a good thing that helps the referee. Our group designed a plastic sleeve to go on the yellow card. We did this because John told us that sometimes if it rains it will be hard to read the names on the back of the card because they rub off. We designed the plastic sleeve so that the names would stay on the card and John would know who he had booked for bad behaviour! We then showed the class our idea.