Dorset Referees Take Island Games By Storm
This year the Games also welcome home-grown Dorset FA referees who were asked by the Football Association to referee at this prestigious competition.
On Tuesday Dorset FA’s Jonny Pike bust onto the international scene where he refereed Jersey v Isle of Man in front of over 2000 people. Jonny’s performance has been highly commended as he was rewarded a return trip to the Springfield Stadium to referee the crucial women’s competition group decider between Guernsey and Ynys Mon the following day.
Today’s matches saw Dorset FA referees in the thick of the action with referee Mark Derrien being centre stage for Isle of Man v Shetland Islands. Additionally Guernsey v Menorca was also under the safe hands of Connor Gates (Assistant Referee), and Tom Holden (4th official).
There is little time for the referees to enjoy the Island as during their time off referees attend training sessions centring on different topics such as penalty kick, and corner kick management, and safe refereeing. George and Dean Trelevan have led these informative and educational sessions highlighting the importance of body language as with teams travelling from across the world it is crucial to overcome challenging language barriers.
We will be catching up with the referees when they return from the NatWest Island Games, so stay tuned for more information!