Three Referee Trials

Published: 20 Jun 2007 - 08:00 by rippa rit

Updated: 20 Jun 2007 - 08:00

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If it helps those who are wondering about the rules, the accuracy of the Referees and so on, here is a link to an update, also put in the Squash News.

How much difference does a bad or good referee make to a match has always been my question to myself when playing. The only solution that worked for me was to get on with the game, forget the referee, concentrate on the play, 'cos as soon as your head gets involved in the refereeing of the match the game will most certainly be lost. You cannot play two people in a match successfully was my conclusion, especially if you head is up in the referee stand.

The big picture is for squash, I guess:

Referees are not paid.
There is no credibility given to referees.
Most qualified referees are not top players, or have never been.
Our top players, in the main, do not want to know about the rule accreditation courses.
Clubs do not put emphasis on having referee workshops for their teams.

The other thing might be to have linespersons, or a beep system to the lines, and replays like in footy seems a bit impractical; slow motion of matches would be good education for players and refs to review the play and discuss decisions.

I like the open discussion type forum stuff, where a profile is put together on players, and that way it may be possible to highlight how players con the refs - and definitely there are players who do that and cause deliberate interference by crowding, hanging on the ball, running into the opponent, etc. Players who argue about every point end up conning the opponent too, where in the end the player gets fed up and throws the match.