Training prospective soccer referees using a deliberate practice perspective: The Israeli Excellence Program

ABSTRACT

Soccer referees experience a variety of demands on and off the field. Training of soccer referees should therefore equip them with the necessary tools to improve their performance, advance in professional levels, and maintain a positive life-career balance. This article presents an overview of the Israeli Excellence Program, designed to select and professionally develop young talented Israeli referees. The program operates over a full season (i.e., each trainee typically attends 25 meetings per season) and across seasons (i.e., trainees can be part of the program for 3 to 4 seasons). A deliberate practice perspective is adopted in all aspects, including operational goals, the candidate selection process, the educational methods applied, and the monitoring of trainees' progress. Progress is evaluated by various objective (e.g., advancement to higher leagues) and subjective (e.g., program evaluation questionnaire) indices. Since 2011, 38 referees and 14 assistant referees have participated in the program, and in 33 occasions trainees were promoted to a higher league. The conclusions offer future directions for referee training pertaining to unique educational methods and career development.

KEYWORDS:

• Deliberate practice
• selection process
• simulation training
• soccer referees
• training program

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the Israel Referee Union and the coaches of the Israeli Excellence Program, Ziv Adler, Roi Reinshreiber, Oren Simanian, and Dani Krasikow, for their assistance in manuscript preparation. A special gratitude to Dr. Itay Basevitch for providing initial comments on the article.