Nearly 30 officials from across the county attended the referee talent identification event for our West Riding FA CORE and Development Group.

The West Riding FA CORE & Development Group’s aim to provide a regular & level appropriate training programme for match officials operating across the grassroots & semi-professional level of men’s & women’s football.

The potential candidates were challenged with completing a fitness assessment & laws of the game assessment. These mirrored the expectations of officials operating at step 3-6 of men’s football in England.

The programme is supported by a plethora of officials from the highest levels of the game, some of whom are recent graduates of previous iterations of West Riding FA CORE & Development Groups.

West Riding FA CORE & Development group lead & Select Group 2 referee Bobby Madley commented: “It is imperative that we provide up and coming officials with regular access to training and development but most importantly, a place to train together as a team. The number of officials attending a CORE & Development group referee talent identification event for the first time was pleasing, as was their commitment to demonstrating their ability”

West Riding FA Referee Development Officer Mark Haywood added: “It was good to see the number of young referees who attended, and the efforts made, especially in the fitness evaluation. The CORE group is some of the best potential talent within the county and the Development group is an opportunity for us to identify individuals who could progress into for the CORE group. The diversity of the group was a huge positive. We had officials representing both men’s & women’s game, from those making their earliest steps in officiating to those who’ve served more than a decade in officiating, and we hope to these continue to build on the foundations of the last few years of CORE & Development group’s that officiating in West Riding is for all!”

The final West Riding FA CORE & Development group referee talent identification event of 2024 will be held on the 15th August 18:00 – 21:00 at West Riding FA, LS26 8NX.

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