The “Skill-Up Training” for women class-1 referees (total of 36) was held on Saturday 10 May at Shinyoko Football Park in Kanagawa and on Sunday 11 May at Kobe Ladies Football Centre in Hyogo.
This training is scheduled to be held three times a year and designed to improve overall skills of women class-1 referees, which includes enhancing physical strength, improving judgment by studying films, deepening understanding of match regulations and upgrading refereeing skills by engaging in the on-the-field training.
Originally women class-1 referees are the recipients of this training, but women class-2 referees also can participate as observers.
Both sessions on 10 and 11 started with the opening remarks by Chairman Kamikawa on 10 and Vice-Chairman Obata on 11 on behalf of the Referee Committee, which referred to the reorganization of the Women’s Committee.

Instructor Comment

AYUKAI Shiho Class-S Instructor, Miyagi
This time was the first session in 2014. We had the on-the-field training and group discussion with using films.
The on-the-field training was titled as “Judging the plays in the potential blind spots for referees – Cooperation of referees and assistant referees”. We talked about not only making the right judgments but also how referees see plays, how differently assistant referees see the same plays and how they are supposed to work together based on the understanding of two different angles to see the same plays.
The group discussion with films took time for careful analysis of each situation by taking all factors into consideration.
It was a good opportunity for us not only to exchange the practical opinions very actively but to share the experiences and information.
What impressed me most in this training was “how strongly those participating referees are committed”.
They realise that they are the best female referees, and they were so willing to improve their skills. It was such a short period as half a day, but thanks to enthusiastic participation by the referees and support from the staff and others involved, we could finish this training with a great success. I will review what we did today and prepare for two more sessions to come so that this program will be practical and useful for women class-1 referees.

Referees Comments

KIRIHARA Junko Women Class-1 Referee, Kanagawa
The training was just half a day and short, but the contents were so well-designed that I could thoroughly focus on the topics.
In the on-the-field training we did first, after every play we had a pose, Instructor Ayugai discussed each play and we could make sure with the demonstrators on what actually took place. So we could try every play with the good amount of information on how we should move around, where we keep looking, and how we maintain our vision. The training reminded us of the things that we thought we were doing but actually we weren’t doing enough and things we didn’t think important as much as they really were.
In the second half, as we watched films, we discussed in groups judgments and referee’s positioning and also did group presentations. We could have a very active discussion. In the end, we watched the film of speed skaters’ training. It’s a different sport, but there were many things to learn from because this year’s theme of physical training “acceleration” is closely related to how they use their bodies when they start dashing and how they coordinate their body and mind and improve their reaction. 

Words can’t express enough of my appreciation to instructors and other people who made this training possible with all the preparations and execution. I will keep working hard with always being thankful. Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the students from Nippon Sports Science University who took time off from their own work to be here for this training as demonstrators.

SUKEHIRO Nayu Women Class-1 Referee, Chiba
I was reminded in the on-the-field training that we need to take so many factors into consideration including how we work together with assistant referees, where we can have blind spots when the ball is along touch lines, how assistant referees see where the main referee is, where the offside line is, where plays take place and so on. In the film analysis, we gained better understanding of many foul situations through group analysis and presentation.
The new program “video training” taught me that it’s possible for me to do simulations in my everyday life as if I am refereeing by looking at things from different perspectives. I will take time to review what I learned in this training and work hard to take advantage of it in my future work as a referee.