FOOTBALL Federation Victoria (FFV) and the local Geelong Region Football Committee, in conjunction with Futsal Geelong, is attempting to address the severe shortage in local referee numbers by bringing together an astonishing 40 potential new match officials to an outdoor Referees’ Level 4 course that will be held at the Leisuretime Sports Precinct on Saturday.

PHOTO: Referee Nick VanRooy officiating a local Women's Div 1 match. Next season he will be joined by a huge influx of new referee colleagues (Photo: Mark Tizard)

The course registration hit full capacity earlier in the week and due to the incredible demand an additional instructor was needed to be booked.

As such, after Saturday, there will be a staggering amount of potential new referees to officiate in all forms of the World Game at the local level, which has the FFV Referees’ Manager Luke Brennan very excited.

‘We are really pleased with the strong response from the Geelong region, I’m sure everyone will enjoy themselves under the guidance of our most experienced instructors,” Brennan said.

“Our Level 4 course is the perfect way for everyone, from anywhere and at any age, to begin refereeing in the local Geelong region.

“It’s important for us to continue to work hard to improve the number and quality of referees, so we can support the growth of football within the Geelong region in the long term,” Brennan added.

This training program, which is aimed at match officials officiating in junior and youth matches, consists of theory modules, practical sessions and practical mentoring in matches as a referee and assistant referee.

Referees will be provided with a nationally accredited Level 4 Referee’s certificate upon completion of the course and will be permitted to referee both Futsal Geelong and Geelong Social Sevens’ matches, as well as all FFV administered matches in the wider Geelong region.

To undertake the training program, the participants must be at least 13 years of age and have successfully passed the online ‘Laws of the Game’ module within the past two years. The qualification is valid for a period of up to 4 years.

For those that missed out this time, Luke Brennan revealed the FFV Referees’ Department is looking at running another Level 4 Referees’ Course for the region in October.