Umpires

lucylu

What is the qualification to be an umpire in an intercounty match?
Buddy of the Ref? Overweight and over 50?

There was at least 2 incidents last Sunday in the football matches Kildare Vs Offaly and Derry Vs Monaghan where the umpires didn't seem to have a clue what to wave or advise the Referee.

Is it just a free ticket to a meal and a few drinks on a Sunday afternoon?

6th

I think you need to be dea, drink blood and sleep in a coffin.







Oh wait .... thats Vampires!

macadam

Qualifications for umpiring @ gaa matches.

You must be 5' 6" in height so as the white coat supplied just tips the grass, blind in one eye, wear a cap drink at least 10 cups of tea before the match and sneak a few jemmies from your hip flask when the camera is at the other end.
These are just some of the many criteria you need to take **** from the crowd behind you and even more from the feckers in front of you.

mal_1

There was a great description of the very man on Liam Horan's radio piece on Radio1 drive time this evening.


May not be on the link below just yet; but no harm in listening his ramblings from last year. Pure Class


http://www.rte.ie/radio1/drivetimesport/1203206.html

xcrieve

lucylu wrote: »

Is it just a free ticket to a meal and a few drinks on a Sunday afternoon?

Does the ref pick them? At club level, frequently its whoever is standing about and get caught for the job......................

xcrieve

macadam wrote: »

These are just some of the many criteria you need to take **** from the crowd behind you and even more from the feckers in front of you.

+1

blackbelt

A referee does pick his own umpires while the linesmen are selected by the CCC.

As for the game,I think it was Derry v Monaghan?The umpire ran out to where the ball crossed the line signalling for a 45 and then signalled it wide.I think he inadvertently took the piss out of the player who shot wide by showing everyone and the referee how dire his shot was.

Moral of the story,if you are refereeing,pick your friends who you know have a clue or who are reliable.

lucky_al

poor eyesight and bad memory with the bad memory contributing to forgetting the glasses and who last touched the ball before it crossed the little white line

keane2097

Low concentration seems to be a plus as well - you'll often see a shot taken with the umpire off in his own world, everyone looks at him for a decision only for him to snap out of his reverie bemused as to why everyone is looking at him!

LeoB

So I take it from some of the silly posts you will all be putting your name forward for referee course.

Its easy to sit and slag these fellows, get up off your a** and sign up for a referee course or are ye to busy sitting bitching with your diehard buddies?

Its difficult to get umpires when you referee games and in fairness they actually dont miss alot. For club games they are from the clubs playing and for championship games most refs will try and bring his own. I always had 2 from my club for championship games but for league it was difficult as our club would be playing and lads would want to see our team playing. An awful lot of people going to games especially at this time of the year dont have much of a clue of the rules.
In club games you have to deal with the parochial cheats who give their side the benifit if the decision is 60/40 against their team.
I referee'd only football at senior level and underage Intercounty and a lot of keepers now are screaming wide even before the ball is kicked and if its tight it would put pressure on umpire. When you also have a load of clowns roaring wide its even more difficult. I think its a lot more difficult in Hurling with the ball moving so fast. I umpired at 3 or 4 Intercounty Hurling matchs and was stunned at the pace so it is easy to miss off the ball stuff when you are trying to watch the flight of the ball
As for the match last week in Ulster, well was it football at all?

If you contact the Secretary of your county board they will let you know when the next Referee course is coming up

keane2097

LeoB wrote: »

So I take it from some of the silly posts you will all be putting your name forward for referee course.

Its easy to sit and slag these fellows, get up off your a** and sign up for a referee course or are ye to busy sitting bitching with your diehard buddies?

Its difficult to get umpires when you referee games and in fairness they actually dont miss alot. For club games they are from the clubs playing and for championship games most refs will try and bring his own. I always had 2 from my club for championship games but for league it was difficult as our club would be playing and lads would want to see our team playing. An awful lot of people going to games especially at this time of the year dont have much of a clue of the rules.
In club games you have to deal with the parochial cheats who give their side the benifit if the decision is 60/40 against their team.
I referee'd only football at senior level and underage Intercounty and a lot of keepers now are screaming wide even before the ball is kicked and if its tight it would put pressure on umpire. When you also have a load of clowns roaring wide its even more difficult. I think its a lot more difficult in Hurling with the ball moving so fast. I umpired at 3 or 4 Intercounty Hurling matchs and was stunned at the pace so it is easy to miss off the ball stuff when you are trying to watch the flight of the ball
As for the match last week in Ulster, well was it football at all?

If you contact the Secretary of your county board they will let you know when the next Referee course is coming up

Umpires in general are crap. That's what most of the people in this thread have been saying. You've given some reasons why the standard is so poor, but that isn't to say they're not crap. You being angry and aggressive doesn't change it.

LeoB

keane2097 wrote: »

Umpires in general are crap. That's what most of the people in this thread have been saying. You've given some reasons why the standard is so poor, but that isn't to say they're not crap. You being angry and aggressive doesn't change it.

Tired maybe, angry and agressive, NO. The point being put your name down and do a few matchs. Too many people critise and dont do anything constructive to change things. The fact is they are not bad. They might make a mistake but they are not bad

I know in Dublin lads like Eamon Morris who ref at senior Inter county has more or less the same umpires for all his games. They are experienced referees and very honest people, totally unlike the descriptions I have seen here.

There are other issues like using T.V ref like rugby but that is a different thread

mrgaa1

As far as I know umpires for championship match's have to do training sessions in Dublin. I think if the general public knew more about the limitations of the umpires role then they'd appreciate their role. Personally i think umpires should be referees with more powers.
BTW I agree with LeoB - more referees are needed and instead of people giving out thinking they know the rules - stand in the middle and see what you think then.

LeoB

mrgaa1 wrote: »

As far as I know umpires for championship match's have to do training sessions in Dublin. I think if the general public knew more about the limitations of the umpires role then they'd appreciate their role. Personally i think umpires should be referees with more powers.
BTW I agree with LeoB - more referees are needed and instead of people giving out thinking they know the rules - stand in the middle and see what you think then.

Not much chance of that happening, its easier to critise.

If you looked at the match in Thurles yeasterday and saw the pace of the players and how high the players were hittin the ball it was very difficult for the umpires in the blinding sun. But at least they were there.

Saw an umpire geting a lad sent off in National League game and he was the only one who saw the incident. I spoke to the player a few days later and he told me what he done and the umpire was 100% right. The player got 4 weeks. But the umpire has limited input into the running of the game

One solution at intercounty level is to involve the linesmen who are now wired up to the ref. They can often have a good view of the shot from behind the player shooting.

blackbelt

I took up refereeing because I wanted to provide a service for my county and set a few goals for myself.Personally,I enjoy refereeing more now than I do actually playing as you meet people,enjoy yourself.

At first,you are nervous and you will get games that make you reconsider why you took it up but the experience you get if you keep at it will stand to you and you become more confident in your refereeing and dealing with scenarios.

As for umpires,usually they are from the clubs and are honest.Being dishonest just takes the fun and point out of it.A good few years ago,I was at a club match and was asked to umpire which I did with no problem.It was a championship match and there was a lot of 50-50 decisions at the endline.Next thing,a team mentor comes over to me and instructs me to give any 50-50 ball to them implying that I was not calling it correctly.I told him I was the umpire and I make the decisions and then told him where to go.

So the umpires job can also be a thankless one sometimes.They are human like everybody else and it is very rare that there is controversy surrounding them.I think it was Clare who were robbed last year as a result of poor referee-umpire comunication/decisions but in a game where a crucial point can be scored within millimetres of the post,the standard is excellent.

Last years championship was a pretty bad one.Too much focus on referees and the issue of trial by media.I hope this year will be about the play and the players themselves.

blackbelt

LeoB wrote: »

Not much chance of that happening, its easier to critise.

If you looked at the match in Thurles yeasterday and saw the pace of the players and how high the players were hittin the ball it was very difficult for the umpires in the blinding sun. But at least they were there.

Saw an umpire geting a lad sent off in National League game and he was the only one who saw the incident. I spoke to the player a few days later and he told me what he done and the umpire was 100% right. The player got 4 weeks. But the umpire has limited input into the running of the game

One solution at intercounty level is to involve the linesmen who are now wired up to the ref. They can often have a good view of the shot from behind the player shooting.

Yes and the linesmen can see nearly everything that happens behind the referees back as well.From my experience,if something happens behind my back when the play is at one end,I can't just go on the word of other players or mentors.At that level,you don't have the luxury of that backup of having an appointed linesman.

However,I have seen some shocking linesman displays from Marty Duffy.Last years Leinster Final and Ciaran Whelan was elbowed in the face right in front of Duffy.Tv cameras clearly picked up on Duffy watching this and shaking his head and doing nothing about it.

Umpires should have more power in my opinion.Where a high ball comes in and the issue of a square ball comes into question,I believe the referee should be able to consult the linesmen on whether it is a square ball or not if he is unsure.A lot of the time the referee can watch the ball in flight and miss the players positioning.