Harrow Referees’ Association – Refereeing football in Harrow and the surrounding area

COVID ADVICE for ACTIVE REFEREES

Be warned, still take extra care by continuing to use face masks and employ socially distancing, as with the Delta variant having had two doses of the vacant does not stop passing Covid-19 on to others.

Eminent Covid Specialist, Dr Neil Bentley gave advice to referees officiating during the pandemic, when he addressed a Zoom meeting hosted by our sister branch, West Middlesex Referees' Association recently.

His key advice was:

1). Avoid fist-bumping as, in his opinion, it Is almost as bad as shaking hands. It's really best to avoid close contact with others wherever possible, but if you must exchange greetings with somebody else an elbow bump, as often used by Boris while masked, is the best alternative greeting!

2). When washing your hands avoid cross-contamination while controlling the taps.

3). Watch out for being crowded by groups of players and take extra care when cautioning and sending off players.

Neil is currently seconded as deputy Director to lead the COVID-19 Pathogen Genomics Service, which interfaces between PHE and COG-UK to provide genetic sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus for the United Kingdom. This service identifies and monitors the different circulating viral variances in the country. This information in turn aids in the assessment to COBRA on how the country responds to the pandemic.

2020-2021 Annual General Meeting & Laws of the Game Quiz

On Thursday 20th May 2021 we finally caught up and hosted our 2020-21 AGM virtually via Zoom in the right month and right year - quite different to our 2019-20 AGM which was delayed until we were confident to be able to hold it virtually in March and in 2021, rather than in May 2020, due to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. All motions were carried without dissent.

After AGM business (attended by 21 members) and a short break for refreshment, Andy Taylor (pictured above) led the Laws of the Game Quiz, which he devised and which Matthew Dyachuk facilitated, with 14 members staying on to take part. Andy posed ten multi-choice questions for participants to vote on, i.e. select what they thought was the correct answer (and luckily, for some, it was just like a secret ballot) making use of www.live.voxvote.com, which also collated the responses. After each question the Guru, surprised by some of the votings, gave the correct answer, explaining the reasons and as always the Guru's instructive words of wisdom were much appreciated.

Harrow RA members only, but this time all registrations were very closely vetted because at our 2019-20 AGM there was an unwelcome visitor, who interrupted proceedings in a racially abusive way. Details for registering to join the Zoom AGM were e-mailed only to Harrow RA members by the Honorary Secretary. This time they were not available on either our website or on social media.

The AGM and quiz went ahead without incident and was enjoyed by all.

FA Promotion Scheme

Click on the link to find out the update for Promotion Scheme due to covid-19.

Find out the update here

Join Harrow RA Team

Harrow RA is offering the opportunity to join the Management Committee. We have two open posts:

Honorary Youth Referee Development Officer
Assistant Youth Development Officer

Apply here

Coronavirus Information

We put together a page that has relevant pieces of information related to COVID-19:

Information for Season 2021/22

Here is some information for the 2021/22 season below:

How Can Harrow RA Help?

The Harrow Referees' Association is here to help you through your involvement as a football referee.

Young or old, looking to take the course, an eye on a promotion, being an observer or just wanting to learn and socialise with other match officials the Harrow RA is here to offer support and advice.

In normal times we meet face to face once a month during the season at Rayners Lane FC and offer a number of great opportunities to interact with colleagues at all levels of the Refereeing spectrum. Currently, due to the pandemic, we can only meet via the internet on Zoom.

We Remember

2020 has been a very difficult year, many people died from Covid-19. We lost two members of Harrow RA, Tony Silverston and Isaac Jempeii and they will be missed.

Help us to improve the Harrow RA Website

Harrow Referee Association continuously is looking to improve its services to support members. We would like to ask you to help us and complete our short survey.

The survey is anonymous and will take you a few minutes and will help us to know your needs better and to improve your experience with Harrow RA website www.harrowreferees.co.uk

Start Survey

Next Steps...

If you would like to be part of this vibrant Referee's Association get in contact with us now or come along to our next meeting.

Welcome to the Harrow RA