One of the most common messages I get is from people who want to start refereeing, but don't really know how to get into it. It certainly isn't as easy as when I started - where certification was basically non-existent and standards were somewhat sub-par. But I still believe that it is doable, and below is what I deem to be a sensible order of trying things to work your way up to being a fully fledged referee. Even the greats like Dave and Jesus had to start somewhere (though Jesus started refereeing somewhen way back in the past, their origin story has probably been lost to the mists of time), and the resources and knowledge available now is far higher, so you can reach the top a lot faster if that is what you want to do.
Onwards.
1. If your team has practices with scrimmages, referee those. Okay, so no-one likes to be the person giving cards out in practice, but your team needs to learn the rules and so do you. Get used to how loud you have to be for people to hear you, and practice focussing on one aspect of the game - either quaffle, or bludger. Run a lot, and experiment with where you need to place yourself to get the best view of everything going on; not everyone will find that the general advice is helpful to them. Also, if you have other referees on your team (even ones who aren't certified in the current season), ask them for feedback. General demeanor and attitude towards refereeing doesn't change across rulebooks, even if the specifics of the rules do!
2. Find a fun way to revise the rulebook. As I am a nerd, I try to own a physical copy of each rulebook (get on it, USQ! RB10 needs to be in my house!) and last season I colour-coded each of the fouls and put markers in the sections which I knew I'd need to reference more often, such as the new reset rules and contact fouls. This meant I could flip straight to the sections I knew I needed to go over before a tournament, and it made it easier to look things up mid-tournament as well if I wasn't sure I'd made the correct call. I know lots of people like Kym Couch's flash cards (RB10 ones can be found here) when revising for tests, or maybe you'd rather make your own. You could also organise a study session within your club, or over skype with friends from other clubs. Learning the rulebook shouldn't have to be a chore!
3. Referee scrimmages some more. Referees need to practice just as much as players - you can never have too much experience, and it will benefit your club too if they are used to abiding by the rules on more than just an honesty basis. If they don't let you, point out the fact that you know the rules every time someone gets a card in a tournament until they figure it out. Everyone knows that six players on a pitch is far better than three (which yes, is the lowest number I've seen a team go down to due to fouls and cards).
4. Volunteer to referee at a small tournament with less pressure. This could be a small merc tournament, a small team tournament, or maybe even just a friendly set of matches between two clubs. Mostly people will just be grateful for the volunteers, and as it isn't a regional competition with a lot of outside scrutiny, it doesn't matter so much if you make a couple of mistakes. This way you can get used to the pressure of a real game, without feeling like it matters for a team's national ranking (a surprisingly large pressure, even when the teams are only looking at the low teens or twenties). Most tournaments have one or two highly experienced referees - I went as far as Highlander last year in my bid to get lots of experience - who will be able to give you advice on how you did, and where to improve.
5. Volunteer to referee at more tournaments. More. Even more than that. Everything you can sensibly, feasibly get to. Referee until you are confident, or can at least pretend to be - and if your goal is regionals and BQC, sign up for those in plenty of time!
At some point, yes, you need to do the written exams and the field tests. You can do this before number one, before number four, or maybe just in time for regionals if you've been refereeing at tournaments with no test requirements. But having experience and having confidence are often more important than a great test result, as rules can be learnt much easier from a book than other refereeing skills.
But my most important advice can be found here.
If you have any questions or worries about refereeing, you can always get in contact with me - either on the page or on my actual facebook if I have you as a friend. I'm sure there are many other referees who are also willing to help you, including the referee development teams of your NGB. Best of luck!
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