ULSTER GAA is to launch a new initiative to help counteract the levels of verbal and physical abuse being directed at referees.
The alleged incident at an Ulster club championship match in Derry last weekend was the latest in a series involving match officials and Gary Mallon, Referee Development Officer at Ulster GAA, believes that a lack of understanding of the rules of the game is at the root of the issue.
“We need to educate parents, young people and players and coaches about the rules of our games,” he explained.
“The whole package needs to be looked at to the extent that there is zero tolerance for abuse of officials. If you abused or assaulted someone on the street on a Saturday night, you’d have the police at your door. Why should it be any different if you do the same thing to a referee?”
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Experienced coach Mallon is concerned at the low levels of new referees coming through in all counties but he pointed out that all sports are experienced issues in recruiting match officials.
“These incidents where referees are getting abuse doesn’t help,” he said.
However, he rejects the suggestion that GAA is facing a ‘doomsday scenario’ whereby the lack of referees will mean that games, and potentially competitions, wouldn’t take place.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as that,” he said.
“But new referees aren’t coming through at the minute. If every club even had one referee that would be a start but a lot of clubs don’t have any. In Armagh you have referees coming in from Down and Tyrone to help out but every county in Ulster is more or less the same.
“Armagh tried to get a referees’ academy going last year and one person turned up.”
In his role with Ulster GAA, he is planning a recruitment drive to bring through new match officials but is also mindful that existing referees need to be properly looked after and respected.
“We want to recruit more referees,” he said.
“Ideally you’d love somebody who has just finished playing to take up refereeing but it doesn’t necessarily have to be an ex-player. Former players don’t always make good coaches and it’s the same in refereeing.
“And we want to look after the referees we already have. Referees are getting shouted at, and sometimes worse, and they have to go straight from the pitch to their car after a game.
“They need to have somebody to meet the referee when he turns up, bring him to the changing room, show him out to the pitch… Clubs need to embrace referees better.”
