What to do and say in your captains meeting to set the right tone for the match.
Greetings and Introductions
As with the spectators and coaches before the match, you’ll want to introduce yourself to the players and let them get to know you as a person. Showing a sense of humor can often break down some of the pre-built walls players have up against referees.
Once you’ve been Positive Refereeing for some time, you may already have an established reputation among the teams and players, so it is important that you continue to maintain yourself as a bastion of positivity and difference compared to the preconceptions most players may have against referees.
Card Presentation
As you chat with the players, open up your card wallet and let them know that you have all the tools you need to officiate today’s game, fanning out the yellow and red, but also including, the Green Card.
Inevitably, a player will ask what’s up with the Green Card, which opens up the dialog to introduce its concept, to reward exceptional positive sporting behaviors. Let them know that it isn’t for spectacular soccer ‘plays’ like shots or saves but that it’s specifically to reward acts of being a good sport, in line with the spirit of the game, like showing respect for one another and for the sport they’re there to play.
Setting the Game Tone
Another aspect of a Positive Referee is that you’re not there to be a dictator, establishing your dominion over the match, but instead as a protector of the game to ensure fairness is met. Let the players know that part of your measure of success in officiating the game is how little you have to blow your whistle or call out fouls. Make it an ‘inside game’ between yourself and the players to see how few times you have to blow your whistle.
This changes the whole paradigm of what players think the referees are there to do. Instead of inserting oneself into the game to satisfy their own ego, it tells the players that you as a referee want to remove yourself as much as possible from the game and let it instead just be a match between players. It no longer highlights the referee as a person to sneak around behind or someone to try to get away with things when they’re not looking, and instead allows them to focus on their own playing.