JFL Referee Training was held from Saturday 3 May 2014 to Monday 5 May 2014 at Hasaki in Kamisu City, Ibaraki.
The training focused primarily on ‘being aware of problems and self-improvement through self-realisation’. Participating referees held practice refereeing sessions and discussions, thinking about what constitutes ‘awareness of problems’ and the aim one needs in order to see the problem caused by the discrepancy between the current situation and the eventual aim. The training was ‘thought-provoking’ for the referees.

Instructor Comment

MAYUZUMI Toshiyuki Chief Instructor
The aim of the training was ‘how to control free kicks smoothly.’ We held a discussion on how to realise what we need to achieve this goal.
We considered what players, teams, coaches or the spectators might require, or when or how we could say a particular aim was achieved. We also discussed what kind of ‘awareness’ you need and when this is required to reach a certain target. There is very limited awareness of how to grasp a situation before making a decision and players’ thoughts or intentions after a decision has been made. To judge appropriately, you need to cope better with a given situation, and this includes players’ thoughts and intentions. Good awareness improves your technical skill level, which then leads to our overall aim of ‘controlling free kicks smoothly’.

SUZUKI Fusaya Class-S Instructor (Tokyo)
JFL Reserve Referee Training was held from May 3 to May 5 at Hasaki, Ibaraki.
The theme was ‘awareness’. We analysed games using videos in order to raise our awareness and get to grips with the essential points of what constitutes awareness.
All participating referees were very eager to step up to the next level and I think this training was beneficial for them. However, generally speaking, I hope more referees pursue higher skills, aiming at JFL and J3.

Referees Comments

ABE Masashige Class-1 Referee, Saitama
Having attended this training, I realised that my efforts have been getting results. My task was to improve my positioning and my movement and I’ve been working on this by exercising my core and changing my running style since last autumn. And I think I achieved results in the practice match.
Despite the hot weather, I could keep running until the final whistle and find ways to get into position as well.
I was really pleased to receive recognition about my movement in the evaluation and I have become more confident about what I have been focusing on.
I will maintain this focus on my tasks one by one.

OOBA Satoru Class-1 Referee, Nagano
Whenever I attend training I’m inspired by learning closely with other referees, who are at the same level as I am.
I’ve been carrying out trial and error to improve on my weakness - control of the game - by watching other referees.
I’d like to be a strong referee, who not only can judge accurately, but also prevents fouls, identify players’ infractions, and getting them to play fairly, leading the match when necessary.
I will contemplate what instructor Mayuzumi said about recap, memorising and understanding.

NISHIMURA Mikiya Class-1 Referee, Tottori
On the theme of ‘awareness’, I learned that if you don’t try to see things happening, it’s the same as nothing happening.
This training made me think thoroughly about what to do to increase my awareness in matches.
Things must be done in order to become aware of something, and there are a lot of things to be aware of. This finding is one of the biggest things I learned in this training.