Bedfordshire FA recently hosted its first Referee Development Group of the 19/20 season. The event was a huge success with 42 referees between levels 5 and 7 in attendance.

The purpose of the group is to provide guidance, coaching and support to any registered referee within the County. This session focussed on overall fitness and work rate within a game. This comprised of an outdoor session with coaches Will Finnie and Josh Smith who introduced attendees to the ‘yo-yo test’, which put the referees through their paces and tested their stamina.

This was accompanied by a session which encouraged the idea of regular functional fitness to help enhance match performance which was delivered by Lottie Burton of Better Bodies Sports Therapy of Bedford. The idea was to keep the session simple, using no equipment so it could be repeated anywhere with limited resources.

After a food break, members took part in an interactive session titled ‘referees go dating’. The session encouraged the referees to share goals and strengths with one another and encouraged them to retain the information received from others as they moved around the room.

Lottie Burton from Better Bodies Sports Therapy was delighted with how the session went:

“I was asked to coach a training session with the Referee’s Development Group to encourage the idea of regular functional fitness to help enhance match performance.

All members of the group worked exceptionally hard through a tough training session and we proved that within a short space of time and no fancy gym equipment in sight that an effective sweat session can be had!”

Mike Desborough, Bedfordshire FA Referee Development Officer said ‘’this was a fantastic evening which reflected the number of referees we have in Bedfordshire showing promise and a willingness to move up the refereeing ladder’’.

The Referees’ Development Group is open to any registered Bedfordshire FA referee who is keen on developing their skills. There are nine sessions across the season and any referee interested in attending a session should contact Mike Desborough on 07803 623374 or by emailing mike.desborough@bedfordshirefa.com

 Better Bodies Sports Therapy can assess and treat any injuries, aches or pains as well as deliver personal training sessions from a private training studio based in Bedford town centre. Any enquiries can be sent to betterbodiessportstherapy@gmail.com or 07791 867796. More information can be found on their website https://betterbodiessports.wixsite.com/bbst