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Around 50,000 referees across Germany, who normally pick up the whistle week after week, are currently working from home. For the referees’ association Rhein-Lahn (FV Rheinland) this is by no means a reason to put their feet up. In order to be ready for action at any time, the association launched the “Fitness for Referees Challenge 2021” campaign – and promptly landed a Facebook hit. We talked to the initiator Patrick Heim about the idea for the campaign, the participants from all over Germany and the appeal of the referee job.
FUSSBALL.DE: Mr. Heim, at the end of last year you published photos of your referees who show them playing sports on the Facebook page of the referees’ association Rhein-Lahn and called on other referees from your association to do the same. How did that happen?
Patrick Heim: In the committee we decided that we would like to encourage the referees not only to keep fit when it comes to rules, but also to stay physically active. We wanted the referees to be fit and ready when things got going again, so that they wouldn’t collapse on the pitch after 10 minutes. So we came up with the idea of doing a challenge to find out who is running how many kilometers and who is moving the most.
This resulted in an even bigger project shortly afterwards.
“The nice thing about the challenge is that anyone can take part regardless of age. Our youngest participant is 13 years old, the oldest 76”
Home: Exactly, we wanted to initiate even more and spread the challenge not only within the district, but across Germany. So at the beginning of this year we called on other associations to upload pictures or selfies of their sporting activities and to nominate other associations. The first circles took part, mobilized other circles and so the challenge has made the rounds, so that 18 associations from all over Germany have now joined our campaign.
Did you expect so many referees from the south to the north to take part in the challenge?
Home: No, we didn’t expect that. In the beginning we were even afraid to publish the challenge because such calls often fail and are not really accepted. We would never have expected that we would achieve such a wide range. There are referees from Deggendorf to Wolfstein to the Eifel, Eilenburg or Lübeck.
How has the feedback from the referees been so far?
Home: We have just received a lot of positive feedback from neighboring circles. Our own referees also thought it was great. We are now all running against each other with the help of an external portal. Other associations have set themselves the goal of running a certain number of kilometers within a month. The nice thing about the challenge is that everyone can take part regardless of age. Our youngest participant is 13 years old, the oldest 76.
What have the referees come up with in terms of sport?
Home: Most of them ran, some skated inline skates or rowed. The 76-year-old referee from our association was riding a bike. It is important that every sporting activity counts! The main thing is to stay fit and get your body moving.
Physically, your referees are well prepared for the new season. How do you keep yourself mentally and regulatively fit?
Home: We meet regularly for video conferences and play current scenes from the Bundesliga or videos from our referees in a circle. In the past, for example, we recorded offside situations or foul games and now we discuss how and why our referees decided that way back then. Of course, we also go through current rule questions. In the spring we even had a challenge on the rule questions, in which the person with the most correct answers won a DFB jersey.
Will a winner be chosen in the current “Fitness for Referees Challenge 2021”?
Home: No, because we think that everyone can celebrate personal success for themselves if they improve their own fitness and thus possibly even whistle a league higher at the end of the season. A referee in our circle started running six weeks ago and has already improved by over a minute per kilometer. Everyone who takes part in the challenge is a winner.
Does the campaign also benefit referees?
Home: I think so, because basically our main goal was to show that referees are also athletes and that they have to train regularly in order to be able to direct a game for 90 minutes. That is what we want to give to people. Many think that the referee “only” has to whistle for 90 minutes and forget that after a sprint of over 30 meters, he also has to be able to make a decision and make a clear announcement within seconds. That’s what we train for.
A challenge that more people should dare to face?
Home: Definitely! I can only say again and again that refereeing also strengthens communication. You get to know how to deal with different cultures and have to make a decision quickly under pressure. It’s an incredible development for the personality. We haven’t had any football games for six months or more, that means you don’t hear from our district referees and in those six months we will probably lose a lot of potential prospects. We want to show that refereeing is much more than that, that we have video nights, that we keep fit and that we are a family.
Do you think that the challenge will continue even if the game is open again?
Home: I think so, yes. Of course we hope that we will be back on the field soon and that we will not have any time for projects of this size. But I am confident that the action aroused the desire to run, and that the referees will meet in person, especially during the summer and game breaks, and say “Let’s go run for five kilometers”.
