1. Be loud.
Seriously, all points beyond this are useless if you are not loud. There is no such thing as being too loud as a referee on a quidditch pitch. As a head referee, I like to be able to hear all of my assistants from every point on the field, but as a minimum I should be able to hear you if I'm on the other side. If I can't hear you, how do I know the players can hear you? And conversely, if I can hear you, then the players likely are ignoring you and that is a cardable offense (with exceptions given to those who have hearing issues, though those guys tend to actually try to see ref calls, not just run merrily along until you scream directly into their ear). Most of the time, players will go back to their hoops as a reflex if they feel a beat, but you should still be calling to them. 'Beat, team, number!' is usually the best order I find. This also applies for other calls such as 'safe' and 'back to hoops'.
2. Move a lot.
Referees do not have to stand on one fixed point on the soft boundary. In fact, don't ever do that. Move. Always move. Bludgers and players are moving, so you should be too. You should try and have the best angle for judging contact (from behind) and you should definitely be moving in for a closer look if two or more players are grappling on the floor for a ball.
Also, your legs will get super stiff if you stand in one place for too long, and lets be real you probably have a game to play straight afterwards so that won't help you win, will it?
3. Be aware of your fellow referees.
This is probably the one which causes the most issues with new referees. You are not the only assistant referee on the field (at least I really hope you aren't!). Between all of you, you need to use your eyes to cover the most amount of things possible. This means if a referee is watching a beater clean out chasers in their keeper zone already, you can - and should - focus on something else. You need to be aware of what the other referees are looking at, and also if they're calling a delayed penalty. More fists in the air makes it easier for the head referee to spot it! So always try and keep an eye on what the other referees are doing. You don't need to follow the head referee on quaffle unless they specifically ask you to - they have that covered. If you're directly opposite another assistant referee, move to have a different angle or watch a different bit of play. And if you're not the snitch referee, don't watch the snitch's butt, however attractive it is. Keep your focus on beater play around the snitch, if it's happening.
4. Don't worry if you don't know the specific penalties.
That's what the head referee is there for - that's why they did a longer and harder test. You don't need to worry about it. It's nice if you do know, because you can just go up to the referee and recommend the colour of card, but don't feel that you can't call something just because you can't remember if it should be blue or yellow. Most of the time, the head referee will know what you mean from your description and will figure it out.
5. Keep your descriptions concise.
As a head referee, all I need to hear from you when you're calling a delayed penalty is 'x player from x team committed x foul (on x player)'. Then I should be able to make my judgement on the penalty. Please try to avoid saying 'I think I saw this' or 'maybe it was from behind/over the shoulder' - if you're a referee, you either say it happened or it didn't. Be confident in what you're calling! If you're not sure what the foul is, then quickly demonstrate for me, but that isn't necessary if you are more than 51% sure of what happened. Everyone hates long referee meetings, and assistant referees need to do their bit to keep the game moving.
6. You will get things wrong, and that's okay.
Every referee makes mistakes. Calls will be missed, incorrect cards will be handed out, you'll misinterpret a rule in the heat of the moment and a player will be very cross with you. They might even be cross with you for the entire tournament. But after a while, they will get over it. You are a human, you are allowed to make mistakes. Without them, we don't learn and improve. The most important thing as a referee is to accept that and move on.
7. Be enthusiastic.
Nothing is worse than an assistant referee who doesn't want to be there. You need to be focused on the game, not chatting to the crowd or staring off into the distance. If you don't want to be there, you shouldn't really be volunteering in the first place - it isn't fair on the other referees or the teams involved. Think how you'd feel if you were playing and the referees just weren't bothered; it would piss you off, right? So you should try and care. Please. It really isn't that long a time.
There are more detailed niggles, but those are probably for another day.
photo by Amy Maidment
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