GAA brass have raised concerns about the number of referees in sports.
“Without the referee there is no game. And just because it’s a cliché doesn’t make it any less true.”
GAA CEO Tom Ryan sounded a warning in his annual report last February. With a dwindling number of referees across the board, they are looking to combat a high dropout rate and actively encourage new recruits.
Association president Larry McCarthy has also spoken out on the issue, calling for government legislation to tackle online abuse of match officials, along with players.
A new study has revealed the extent of umpire abuse at Gaelic games today, noting how 94.29 per cent of 438 umpires surveyed have experienced verbal abuse, with an alarming 23.06 per cent reporting physical abuse. .
“It was eye-opening when I was writing up the results and starting to put this all together,” report co-author Noel Brick, a professor and researcher in sport and exercise psychology at the University of Ulster, tells. sky sports.
“One of the most important things for me is awareness about it and making people realize that this is the amount of abuse referees receive. Secondly, more importantly, the impact on referees and how it affects your mental health.”
“In terms of verbal abuse, 94 per cent is quite similar to previous studies. There was a study a few years ago with English football referees, and again that figure was around 94-95 per cent.
“The worrying thing is that, around physical abuse, some of the figures there are very high, higher than in other sports.
“The equivalent figure for soccer referees was around 19 per cent. There was a study done on French and Dutch referees, and it was around 15 to 16 per cent for physical abuse. Twenty-three per cent is higher than the studies that have been carried out. posted in this area.
“Fortunately, and I say this cautiously because any experience of physical abuse is something we don’t want, but 85 per cent said it was once or twice in their career. Most have experienced it once or twice. It was a figure that It caught our attention. Certainly higher compared to other sports. This is certainly very worrying.”
Of 438 respondents, 94.29 percent and 23.06 percent had experienced verbal and physical abuse, respectively, during their career.
Of those who experienced abuse, 5.08 percent (verbal abuse) and 12.87 percent (physical abuse) tested positive for distress the following week.
The findings went on to show a direct link between referees experiencing abuse during a match and later mental health problems.
“It’s [jumps off the page]says Brick. “This is the first study anywhere in the world to look at the relationships between the abuse a referee may experience on the pitch and how it affects their mental health afterward.
“What we found was, first of all, for verbal abuse, there is a direct link between the frequency of abuse and lower well-being and stronger intentions to quit.
“So the verbal abuse directly influenced their well-being and their intention to quit.
“Then for verbal and physical abuse … the stress it caused, higher anxiety, higher depression, lower well-being, and stronger intentions to quit. The reason it’s important is that one thing we know is that the Verbal abuse can directly affect your well-being.
“It’s not something that stays on the pitch. It’s distressing. Verbal abuse, for example, harassment or threats of harm, that doesn’t just stay for a week. It’s much more than that. The same with physical abuse.
“When it comes to reducing or limiting abuse, highlighting those things to me is really important.”
Problems such as anxiety and depression have increased due to incidents during matches.
Understand the sources of abuse
Interestingly, those who play the game are not the most to blame when it comes to committing verbal abuse.
According to the survey, the main offenders are managers or coaches in general, followed in second place by spectators.
Meanwhile, it was predominantly the players who were involved in the physical incidents.
“If we’re looking at ways to reduce the level of abuse, it’s interesting to know who the main perpetrators of that abuse are. [are]you have to write down,” says Brick.
“Secondly, physical abuse, the reason players are taller is simply because they are closer to the referee on the field, and that’s the pattern you see in other sports. When someone is closer, it’s more likely there will be physical abuse. .
“We know that physical abuse can escalate from what starts out as verbal abuse. So to understand how physical abuse happens, I think you also need to understand how verbal abuse starts and where it comes from.
“The target there is the coaches, the managers and the spectators, who are the top two for verbal abuse. I think it’s important that we move closer to reducing or eliminating the abuse.”
The GAA released an Umpire Development Plan to increase the number of umpires
no quick fix
There is no apparent easy solution.
However, studies such as this may highlight what is a real problem for sports organizations in Ireland, the effects of which could be felt significantly for years to come.
“An Oireacthas report published in June… had educational strategies on how to increase awareness of the effects of abuse and the importance of reducing abuse,” says Brick.
“Ultimately none of us want to be at a stage where we can’t play our games because there aren’t enough referees. But a lot of sports highlighted that the trends are pointing towards that. That’s happening in other sports as well. Not just [GAA].
“The FAI reported that within two years of qualifying for their beginners umpiring course, 66 per cent of their umpires left the sport. That was a staggering number, two-thirds within two years of their training. Abuse is one of the main reasons for that, because they tend to suffer more abuse, younger referees.
“Education is one of the key things in terms of reducing abuse. For me, it’s about how we support referees. Yes, the main goal is to reduce and eliminate abuse. But it’s also about how we support our referees. , education and training strategies”. to deal with that distress and manage that distress, that they feel supportive of their mental health.
“I’m sure everyone would agree that we’d love to eliminate abuse, and that’s what we want. But there’s a recognition that that will take time, and who knows, you may never get there. It’s important that we support our referees as well to deal with whatever they experience.
You can find the complete study on referee abuse by Noel Brick, Gavin Breslin, Mark Shevlin and Stephen Shannon here.
require.config({“shim”:{“facebook-sdk”:{“exports”:”FB”}},”baseUrl”:”https://news.google.com/”,”paths”:{“skysports_com”:”core/js/apps/skysports_com”,”skysports_digrev”:”core/js/apps/skysports_digrev”,”skysports_legacy”:”core/js/apps/skysports_legacy”,”skysports_ipad_components”:”core/js/apps/skysports_ipad_components”,”skysports_sap”:”core/js/../static/js/skysports_sap”,”requireLib”:”core/js/vendor/require-2.1.0″,”class”:”core/js/modules/vendor/class”,”countdown”:”core/js/modules/vendor/countdown”,”energize”:”core/js/modules/vendor/energize-bac53226fb”,”hammer”:”core/js/modules/vendor/hammer-a592776ebb”,”marker-clusterer”:”core/js/modules/vendor/marker-clusterer”,”moment”:”core/js/modules/vendor/moment-1.7.2″,”reqwest”:”core/js/modules/vendor/reqwest-a845dfd832″,”scroll-pane”:”core/js/modules/vendor/ftscroller-280c6900bc”,”underscore”:”core/js/modules/vendor/lodash.custom”,”adaptive-content”:”core/js/modules/core2/adaptive-content”,”article-widget-betting”:”core/js/modules/core2/article-widget-betting”,”app-bridge”:”core/js/modules/app-bridge”,”article-advert”:”core/js/modules/article-advert”,”article-outbrain”:”core/js/modules/article-outbrain”,”autocomplete”:”core/js/modules/autocomplete”,”autocomplete-lite”:”core/js/modules/core2/autocomplete-lite”,”accordian”:”core/js/modules/core2/accordian”,”betting-lines”:”core/js/modules/betting-lines”,”bskyb-omniture”:”core/js/modules/bskyb-omniture”,”bskyb-omniture-1-2″:”core/js/modules/bskyb-omniture-1.2″,”calendar-url-builder”:”core/js/modules/calendar-url-builder”,”carousel”:”core/js/modules/carousel”,”carousel-lite”:”core/js/modules/carousel-lite”,”close-me”:”core/js/modules/close-me”,”content-stream”:”core/js/modules/content-stream”,”content-swap”:”core/js/modules/content-swap”,”countdown-widget”:”core/js/modules/countdown-widget”,”comments-reply”:”core/js/modules/comments-reply”,”cookie”:”core/js/modules/cookie”,”android-notice”:”core/js/modules/android-notice”,”create-audio”:”core/js/modules/create-audio”,”dataset”:”core/js/modules/dataset”,”datepicker”:”core/js/modules/datepicker”,”datepicker2″:”core/js/modules/core2/datepicker2″,”dom”:”core/js/modules/dom”,”dropdown”:”core/js/modules/dropdown”,”dropdown-select”:”core/js/modules/core2/dropdown-select”,”element-listener”:”core/js/modules/core2/element-listener”,”environment”:”core/js/modules/environment”,”events”:”core/js/modules/events”,”facebook-sdk”:”//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all”,”form”:”core/js/modules/form”,”form-chart”:”core/js/modules/form-chart”,”form-validation”:”core/js/modules/core2/form-validation”,”html-poller”:”core/js/modules/html-poller”,”implicit-personalisation-display”:”core/js/modules/core2/implicit-personalisation-display”,”implicit-personalisation-storage”:”core/js/modules/core2/implicit-personalisation-storage”,”implicit-personalisation-removal”:”core/js/modules/core2/implicit-personalisation-removal”,”inverted-listener”:”core/js/modules/inverted-listener”,”iscroll-lite”:”core/js/modules/vendor/iscroll-lite”,”keyboard-listener”:”core/js/modules/keyboard-listener”,”keyboard-view”:”core/js/modules/keyboard-view”,”lazy-images”:”core/js/modules/lazy-images”,”live-article”:”core/js/modules/live-article”,”live-cricket”:”core/js/modules/live-cricket”,”live-sport”:”core/js/modules/live-sport”,”live-update”:”core/js/modules/live-update”,”live-refresh”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh”,”live-refresh-darts-table-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-darts-table-controller”,”live-refresh-darts-table-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-darts-table-view”,”live-refresh-football-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-football-controller”,”live-refresh-football-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-football-view”,”live-refresh-fixture-update-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-fixture-update-controller”,”live-refresh-fixture-update-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-fixture-update-view”,”live-refresh-live-golf-leaderboard-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-live-golf-leaderboard-controller”,”live-refresh-golf-matchplay-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-golf-matchplay-controller”,”live-refresh-golf-matchplay-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-golf-matchplay-view”,”live-refresh-match-header-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-match-header-controller”,”live-refresh-match-header-football-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-match-header-football-view”,”live-refresh-match-header-rugby-league-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-match-header-rugby-league-view”,”live-refresh-match-header-rugby-union-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-match-header-rugby-union-view”,”live-refresh-match-stats-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-match-stats-controller”,”live-refresh-match-stats-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-match-stats-view”,”live-refresh-gp-standings-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-gp-standings-controller”,”live-refresh-gp-standings-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-gp-standings-view”,”live-refresh-tennis-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-tennis-controller”,”live-refresh-tennis-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-tennis-view”,”live-refresh-news-list-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-news-list-controller”,”live-refresh-news-list-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-news-list-view”,”live-refresh-livefyre-pinned-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-livefyre-pinned-controller”,”live-refresh-livefyre-pinned-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-livefyre-pinned-view”,”live-refresh-live-table-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-live-table-controller”,”live-refresh-live-table-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-live-table-view”,”live-refresh-live-table-static-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-live-table-static-view”,”live-refresh-masters-live-panel-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-masters-live-panel-controller”,”live-refresh-matchplay-table-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-matchplay-table-controller”,”live-refresh-matchplay-table-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-matchplay-table-view”,”live-refresh-ryder-cup-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-ryder-cup-controller”,”live-refresh-ryder-cup-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-ryder-cup-view”,”live-refresh-status-lookup”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-status-lookup”,”live-refresh-switch”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-switch”,”live-refresh-team-events-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-team-events-controller”,”live-refresh-team-events-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-team-events-view”,”live-text”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-text”,”live-refresh-swingometer-controller”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-swingometer-controller”,”live-refresh-swingometer-view”:”core/js/modules/core2/live-refresh-swingometer-view”,”livefyre-auth”:”core/js/modules/livefyre-auth”,”livefyre-social”:”core/js/modules/livefyre-social”,”load-into”:”core/js/modules/load-into”,”load-more”:”core/js/modules/load-more”,”load-more2″:”core/js/modules/core2/load-more”,”match-head-switch”:”core/js/modules/core2/match-head-switch”,”load-more-inline”:”core/js/modules/core2/load-more-inline”,”load-more-once”:”core/js/modules/core2/load-more-once”,”map”:”core/js/modules/map”,”media-query”:”core/js/modules/media-query”,”now-tv”:”core/js/modules/now-tv”,”most-popular”:”core/js/modules/core2/most-popular”,”observable”:”core/js/modules/observable”,”open-top”:”core/js/modules/core2/open-top”,”overlay”:”core/js/modules/overlay”,”overlay-widget”:”core/js/modules/overlay-widget”,”page-nav”:”core/js/modules/core2/page-nav”,”parse-date”:”core/js/modules/core2/parse-date”,”page-filters”:”core/js/modules/core2/page-filters”,”persistent-autocomplete”:”core/js/modules/persistent-autocomplete”,”polaris-glint”:”core/js/modules/core2/polaris-glint”,”pikaday”:”core/js/modules/vendor/pikaday”,”pl-clip-promo”:”core/js/modules/core2/pl-clip-promo”,”poller”:”core/js/modules/poller”,”polls”:”core/js/modules/polls”,”poll-ig”:”core/js/modules/core2/poll-ig”,”media-playlist”:”core/js/modules/core2/media-playlist”,”postpone-load”:”core/js/modules/core2/postpone-load”,”postpone-load2″:”core/js/modules/core2/postpone-load2″,”postscribe”:”core/js/vendor/postscribe-3737e3c2f9″,”pub-sub”:”core/js/modules/pub-sub”,”roadblock”:”core/js/modules/core2/roadblock”,”update-content”:”core/js/modules/core2/update-content”,”script”:”core/js/modules/script”,”scroll-to”:”core/js/modules/scroll-to”,”scribble-article”:”core/js/modules/scribble-article”,”section-nav”:”core/js/modules/core2/section-nav”,”selectable”:”core/js/modules/selectable”,”selectable-list-view”:”core/js/modules/selectable-list-view”,”share-button”:”core/js/modules/share-button”,”site-layout-primary”:”core/js/modules/core2/site-layout-primary”,”site-nav-desktop”:”core/js/modules/core2/site-nav-desktop”,”sky-go”:”core/js/modules/sky-go”,”skyid-login”:”core/js/modules/skyid-login”,”is-loggedin”:”core/js/modules/is-loggedin”,”sky-sports-date”:”core/js/modules/core2/sky-sports-date”,”squad-selector”:”core/js/modules/core2/squad-selector”,”social-map”:”core/js/modules/core2/social-map”,”sp-player”:”core/js/modules/core2/sp-player”,”sticky-scroll”:”core/js/modules/sticky-scroll”,”string”:”core/js/modules/string”,”swipe-nav”:”core/js/modules/core2/swipe-nav”,”subscriber-video”:”core/js/modules/subscriber-video”,”table-sorter”:”core/js/modules/table-sorter”,”table-sorter-lite”:”core/js/modules/core2/table-sorter”,”tabs”:”core/js/modules/tabs”,”tabs-lite”:”core/js/modules/core2/tabs-lite”,”tabs-filter”:”core/js/modules/core2/tabs-filter”,”tab-navigation”:”core/js/modules/core2/tab-navigation”,”team-formations”:”core/js/modules/core2/team-formations”,”thumbs”:”core/js/modules/thumbs”,”toggle-class”:”core/js/modules/toggle-class”,”toggle-switch”:”core/js/modules/core2/toggle-switch”,”trending”:”core/js/modules/core2/trending”,”trigger-event”:”core/js/modules/trigger-event”,”tv-guide”:”core/js/modules/tv-guide”,”update-html”:”core/js/modules/update-html”,”update-text”:”core/js/modules/core2/update-text”,”user”:”core/js/modules/user”,”util”:”core/js/modules/core2/util”,”validator”:”core/js/modules/validator”,”vidiprinter”:”core/js/modules/core2/vidiprinter”,”vm-suppression”:”core/js/modules/vm-suppression”,”web-notifications”:”core/js/modules/core2/web-notifications”,”widget”:”core/js/modules/widget”,”widget-lite”:”core/js/modules/core2/widget-lite”,”widget-loader”:”core/js/modules/widget-loader”,”window-observer”:”core/js/modules/window-observer”,”your-say”:”core/js/modules/core2/your-say”}});
require([‘skysports_digrev’, ‘sdc-site-pub-sub’], function (appController, pubsub) {
window.sdc = window.sdc || {};
pubsub.init(window.sdc);
appController.init();
});
.
