David Gantar's advice to aspiring referees
Speaking on the Ultimate Soccer Show Canadian FIFA referee David Gantar shared his best piece of advice for aspiring referees.
He explained how fans, coaches and players are not "on our side" and that even referees can be really bad to each other because of how critical we can be of each other with the best referees being very harsh to themselves.
We as referees have to know the importance of self-evaluation and its role in our development as a referees to become better. Striking the balance between being critical and not deprecating is crucial for success.
"You need to find a way to persevere when you fall off the horse and have a bad game, it happens to all referees at some point, so you need to find a way to get back on a keep going" David explained.
What gives you perseverance when refereeing? (Let us know in the comments)
For David it was rooted in his love of the game and wanting to being involved.
I will leave you with a quote from former FIFA referee Adrian Casha:
"Refereeing is similar to life – it provides happy and sad experiences. I had my downfalls but they were all learning experiences that made me mentally tougher. I learnt not to focus on the obstacles that at times restrained me from reaching my goals, but to visualise on what I wanted to achieve. Perseverance is indeed a crucial aspect of successful refereeing."
You can hear the full USS interview with David Gantar here:
