by ‘I get it,’ I say, perhaps a little too enthusiastically as Bibi Steinhaus-Webb, England’s head of women’s refereeing, sits down in the chair opposite me. I forgot to press record for our interview and figured out: “Now I understand why someone would want to be a referee.”
Before I spent a day at the Professional Game Match Officers Ltd (PGMOL) women’s professional match training camp it was difficult for me to understand why anyone would join the refereeing, where your thoughts and decisions are chosen, and where it will be analyzed, criticized and criticized. rarely praised.
“Why would someone put themselves through that?” I wonder when the latest story about the abuse of a referee, whether by the public or a minority, came. I know it’s a difficult job and I know it requires an enormous amount of hard work and thick skin. But I didn’t know the job. I didn’t see the art there. I did not understand the delicate balance between physical and mental dexterity required. What I think is: it’s like chess boxing, where opponents play alternating rounds of chess and boxing, except you’re doing both at the same time.
Related: From new signings to title race: what to look out for as WSL resumes
At one point during training camp, sessions sat in the back on the International Football Association Board’s (IFAB) new rules on whether a defensive player’s contact was intentional or a deflection, determining whether the offensive player is played on the outside. or not, my mind offers a suggestion from left field: ‘I’m unfit and I’d be terrible at this, but I want to test my God.’ I quickly shake myself from that temporary thought and focus back on the session.
The IFAB rule doesn’t seem to be very popular, but here they are discussing how best to implement it. We watch several clips one after the other and, after each one, as it plays on loop, tables break to discuss whether they think the contact with the ball was intentional or not. Every time, there is no consensus among the tables because, well, how do you determine the player’s intent?
He soon realizes that these officials will have to respond to these incidents and judge the player’s intention – or not – much faster than the few comfortable minutes with replays given to them in this meeting room. Can I tell you if there was a secret or not? No.
“After 90 minutes, heartbeat 180, maybe exhausted, the referee has to be in one mind to make the right decisions,” says Steinhaus-Webb. “Have you ever run a marathon? Would you expect a marathon runner to do a complex math exercise as they cross the finish line? They usually don’t look in the right condition to get the right result, that’s why you have to train harder, to make sure you stay mentally sharp.”
It looks like game officials will have to adopt a training regimen similar to that used by Taylor Swift prior to the Eras Tour, where she would run on the treadmill throughout the three-hour set at the songs were sung as she ran and changed the songs. tempo based on the tempo of the song. “That’s exactly what it is,” says Steinhaus-Webb. “That’s a huge part of what they have to do: the physical preparation, the mental preparation, but then there’s also the technical preparation.”
Throughout the year the PGMOL will host matches and competitions to create an environment as close as possible to a match environment, but “That’s not an elite game, Arsenal v Chelsea at the Emirates, that pressured environment, with the level that players, you’re not going to be able to completely recreate that,” says Steinhaus-Webb. “It’s a process, process, process. It’s like when you have driving lessons, you just have to learn the processes over and over again. Nowadays, when you drive the car, you don’t even think about it. This is the state you want to get to.”
I ask referee Kirsty Dowle, who was applauded from the pitch by fans and praised for her performance in the men’s National League game between Southend United and Oxford City in October, how she practices rule changes.
“You don’t,” she says. Teams go to practice and kick a ball and work on things every day. We don’t get that chance. But it will be a weekend like this where we can watch clips and discuss with each other. I can watch my games back and watch my clips. And yes, I’m not doing it physically, but I’m processing that all the time so that I’ve almost done it a thousand times when I get out on the field.
On the unexpected upset at Southend, Dowle says: “First of all, I didn’t really realize it was for me, I thought the players have to be somewhere. The second point, if I’m brutally honest, is that it was a good day for the club, they won 2-0, the sale of the club was happening. I didn’t do anything particularly amazing; I think it has been good for the club.”
Dowle managed to quit her job to focus on refereeing full time but not everyone is so lucky. This season 20% (15 out of 75) of the officials in the women’s game are on contracts and able to referee full time. In the Women’s Super League, it’s almost half, says Steinhaus-Webb. “When we came in the numbers looked very different,” she says. “Now, we’re halfway there and if we continue at this pace, we’re on track to be in a very good place.”
Those who cannot be full-time are still working to an extremely professional standard, aided by a staff that has doubled in size since Steinhaus-Webb joined three years ago. For Dowle, quitting her job was an “absolute hero” and made refereeing even more enjoyable. “I was worried that I would put more pressure on myself now that it was going to pay my mortgage, but be able to sleep as much as I need, prepare my food, watch my games back and have time to speak. it’s great for coaches.”
Steinhaus-Webb and her team are also working to protect those who cannot be full-time. For Lauren Whiteman, a physical education teacher and assistant referee in the Women’s Championship, who is newer to the women’s select group, the extra help was great. “I can’t fault the support at all,” she says. “I’ve gone through my journey before, I wouldn’t say without support, but not necessarily with a coach and someone I can bounce things off of and discuss things with. Whereas this season was completely different.”
This season, Whiteman used comms for the first time, ran the lines on a televised match, and was appointed to the match between Manchester City and Liverpool in the Continental Cup. “I’m not going to lie, I almost dropped my phone,” White says of the call to tell her she’d be on the match between the two WSL sides. “It was one of the biggest games you could get there. It was a relief that it went well. If you’ve been given that opportunity, you want to make the most of it.”
Another assistant referee, Emily Carney, who has benefited from being part of the development group set up in 2022 to give officials the chance to step up and try out, describes the opportunity as “extremely rewarding “. Carney says she wasn’t the biggest fan of the referees when she was a young player and her mother told her she was “terrible to the referees”. It was also her mother who encouraged her to take the course so she could understand all the rules. She rose quickly and soon began traveling to matches with Rebecca Welch and Sian Massey-Ellis as an international assistant and learned from them.
This season, she has been running the lines for several men’s EFL games. “When you make the jump, you feel like you’re carrying a lot of female game officials, hopefully you have to represent them,” she says.
When Welch took charge of the Premier League match between Fulham and Burnley in December, it was a reward for the introduction of the development group. “Goosebumps,” says Steinhaus-Webb of watching Welch in that game. “I’m sitting there watching the game and I just want her to do well. That’s all I want. No drama, that’s what I want.”
Another point of pride for Steinhaus-Webb is the addition of five new match officials from England to the Fifa International List for 2024. Four of those officials are from the women’s select group: Georgia Ball, Nicoleta Bria, Sophie Dennington and Emily Heaslip, and 13 women from England on the list now.
In a final session on nonverbal communication, Steinhaus-Webb puts her hands on her hips in a power pose. A moment later, she has everyone in the room on their feet moving their hands into different positions and postures and discussing the non-verbal implications of each. She is playful with him, self-aware, and he creates a relaxed, open and fun environment – much nicer than what the game day environment is often for them.
“I love judging. Taking this course was the best decision of my life,” says Steinhaus-Webb. “I understand that it may be difficult for others to understand but this is exactly why I want you to come and see it through my eyes. To see the passion I have for him, why I fell in love with him, this is what I want to share.”
