Summary of the Referees Performance The IHF appointed 12 referee couples for this Women s Youth World Championship, held in Dominican Republic from 2 to 12 August. The referees average age was 30.8; the youngest was David Wyss from SUI (26.6) and the oldest Nacho García from ESP (35.1). All of them have been trained in the GRTP (Global Referee Training Program) and have received their IHF badge in the last two years. Due to visa problems, only one member of the CMR couple arrived in DOM. In the last 5 years, efforts have been made to get more female couples on IHF level. IHF was able to nominate 5 women couples from CRO, NOR, TUN, TUR, USA for this event. The 11 nominated couples included 7 from Europe, 2 from America, one from Asia and one from Africa. NOR Referees CRO Referees SWE Referees Pinar Ünlü (TUR), Svein Olav Oie (NOR) with headsets; Ramon Gallego (ESP)
First Referee Meeting: Working with the New Rules 2010 New Rules The main topic of the first referee meeting prior to the start of the Championship was the presentation and the discussion of the New Rules, applicable as from 1 July 2010. During more than five hours, the referees fully concentrated on the changes. The most important part was of course the new structure of Rule 8 (Fouls and Unsportsmanlike Conduct), which was explained with the aid of the official IHF Power Point Presentation, also used in other IHF tournaments, and many examples from the teaching DVD produced by IHF PRC and CCM. Not only the referees, but also the technical delegates nominated for referee work were present at this meeting. (ppt see: http://www.ihf.info/technicalcorner/referees/teachingcorner/complementarydocuments/tabid d/5196/default.aspx) The new way of deciding in case of a collision between the goalkeeper and a player running a counterattack caused many discussions. There weren t any problems concerning the newly implemented Coaching Zone. As usual before WChs, alll referees had to pass the Shuttle Run Test. Levels 8.5 for women and 9.5 for men are the limit for IHF. Everyone successfully passed the test right away except for one person who required a second attempt. As already known by the referees, the first thing every morning is a physical training. Sometimes it was difficult because of the weather conditions sometimes because of the high speed of the PRC s physical teacher (some of the referees tend to say that passing the shuttle run at over 10.0 is easier than following the pace of the morning session).
During the Test During the Test After the Test After the Test Running in the morning In the Technical Referee Meeting held in the morning of the first match day of competition, the President of the PRC, Manfred Prause, encouraged the referees to prove that it was the right decision to nominate them for this World Championship. He expected great consistency and regularity during 60 minutes in each of the 64 matches. It was planned that a technical delegate from PRC will talk to the referees about their performance after the match. Furthermore, every morning after match days, a Technical Referee Meeting will be held at which PRC members, with the aid of Dartfish software, will review the most important positive and negative aspects of the matches played the day before.
Sometimes the Referees showed a Red Card Daily Technical Referee Meeting Good cooperation PRC Ramon Gallego/Miguel Roca/Gunal Ensari/Hristo Boskoski IHF Office In general, good job of the local timekeepers working together with IHF delegates The first day of competition went quite normal regarding refereeing, but on the second day the level of progressive punishments of some couples was much too high. The Technical Referee Meeting on the next morning therefore put a special emphasis on Rule 8, asking for more concentration and referee decisions according to what happens on the field. Step by step, day by day, the referees were able to control the matches giving just the necessary punishments. It should also be noted that all the teams adapted perfectly to the revised Rule 8, which prohibits violence and excessive hardness without changing the philosophy of our sport. The PRC lecturers from Pan-America, Rubén Gómez and Salvio Sedrez, have made a special analysis regarding the progressive punishments in every match. The graphic clearly shows the highest level on the second day. Afterwards the number of punishments reached a normal level as in other IHF championships. Looking at the average number of suspensions at the whole tournament, 7.6 per match is a normal value. Below you see the different tables and graphics.
In general the implementation of the new Rule 8, after some necessary corrections, went quite smoothly. Teams and referees have adapted themselves well, but it s necessary that referees keep their line without searching for punishments. In order to confirm these figures, we have analysed 27 matches in detail regarding suspensions, counting the number of suspensions given, analysing how many of them were not necessary and how many the referees missed to give. We then calculated the ideal number of suspensions. We concluded that even with a more structured Rule 8, which includes many defined criteria, the line of suspensions has to be improved as it was before. We will have to continue working on this. Match Referees Number of Suspensions Decided not necessary missed Ideal NED-ARG 6 0 0 6 ANG-GER 20 4 0 16 DEN-ARG 10 1 0 9 GER-NED 11 5 0 6 URU-DOM 1 0 3 4 ANG-DEN 7 0 1 8 JPN-NOR 6 1 0 5 DOM-JPN 7 1 0 6 ARG-GER 6 0 3 9 NED-ANG 8 0 0 8 URU-NOR 7 0 3 10 GER-DEN 1 0 3 4 DEN-NED 3 1 1 3 NOR-DOM 5 1 1 5 ARG-ANG 14 2 0 12 HUN-KOR 6 1 5 10 COD-THA 7 0 4 11 ANG-URU 7 1 0 6 GER-JPN 3 1 9 11 ANG-KOR 7 0 1 8 JPN-KAZ 11 2 4 13 GER-BRA 3 0 2 5 NOR-FRA 3 0 2 5 NED-SWE 8 1 1 8 ESP-DEN 5 0 1 6 NED-FRA 5 1 1 5 SWE-NOR 4 0 2 3 27 matches 183 23 48 208 6,77/match 7,7/match
In the next months, PRC will compile teaching material with clips of this championship. In addition to progressive punishment, the most important part will be the Rule of Steps (too many goals were awarded after 4 or more steps). Especially with regard to teams from East Asia, the referees had problems to analyse movements and therefore to observe the step rule. Similar to the Women s Junior WCh in Korea, referees from Africa, Asia and Pan- America are more or less on the same level of performance as their colleagues from Europe. However, in order to reach higher levels like A WChs or Olympic Games, experience in many tough matches is necessary. The IHF has to consider how we can help the non-europeans to prepare for such events. European referees have ideal platforms in their continent or in their national federation to gain experience in many good matches. The final match was whistled by the couple from IRI, as they showed a good performance during the whole tournament. The match for the bronze medal was whistled by the female couple from NOR. They did an excellent work as well. At the end of the championship, each couple was asked to write positive and negative aspects, and to make suggestions for improvement. The same was done by each IHF PRC technical delegate. In addition they were asked to give their opinion about all referee couples and to describe their expected future in refereeing. On behalf of PRC Manfred Prause PRC President Ramón Gallego PRC Member