* The young referees will be on charge of our games and every decision they make has an impact in the final result of the game
* Sometimes referees are intimidated by the behavior of fans and players but this course seeks to impart confidence
Maravi Express
A five day Young Referees Course began on Monday in the three regions to train youngsters to be officiating in the FIFA/FAM Under-14 and Under-16 girls leagues.
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A report on Fam.mw says the course is under the Women’s Football League Development Programme and has attracted a total of 107 young referees aged between 14-16 years are taking place in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
At the official opening of the Central Region course at Our Lady of Africa Prayer Center in Lilongwe, National Women’s Football Association chairperson, Adellaide Migogo is quoted by Fam.mw as urging the young referees to be confident in order to grow in the game.
“As referees, these boys and girls will be on charge of our games and every decision they make has an impact in the final result of the game,” she said. “Sometimes referees are intimidated by the behavior of fans and players but this course seeks to impart that confidence in the young people so that they grow with it.
“Once we nurture these referees at a younger age, they will grow with the knowledge and be better referees in the future. The course will also help improve our leagues since the games will be officiated by trained and qualified referees.”
Migogo during the official launch
Migogo also encouraged the young minds to keep on working hard to be good referees, sighting an example of Wyson Mustafa, a 15year-old Blantyre-based referee who officiated at the inaugural CAF African Schools Championship in South Africa.
Instructor for the Central Region session, Martha Nyekanyeka said the course will create a good succession plan for the referees since they will replace those elite referees who will be retiring.
“We will take these young referees through the 17 Laws of the game as well as some practicals at the field of play during the five days,” she is quoted as saying.
“Through this course, we will have a pool of young referees to replace those who are now growing up and as assessors, we will be following up on the participants to see how they are performing in the youth leagues that they will be officiating.”
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Last week, when Football Association of Malawi (FAM) launched the K150 million Girls and Boys U14 and U16 Leagues, FAM president, Walter Nyamilandu Manda emphasized that the only path of taking Malawi football in the right direction is through laying strong and solid foundation at grassroots level by making sure that all youngsters who have football passion across the country are active.
Nyamilandu said for along time, FAM has been trying its best to find sponsors who can support youth league competitions, specifically for U14, 16 as well as 19 for both boys and girls — a development which he said was affecting the talent identification process.
“Through this competition, we’ll build a brighter future of football for Malawi and as FAM, we are geared up to make sure these children are well monitored and have their database recorded to avoid any age cheating incidents in the future.
“This is a pyramid approach and are very confident that in few years coming we’ll produce strong national football teams for both boys and girls,” he said.
On her part, Adelaide Migogo said the leagues will help to have a great transition in the women’s national football teams with National Youth Football Association president, Tiyenkhu Chavula the system will ensure there is proper tracking for the players who will be going into all the recommended football steps and also feed local football clubs as well as the national teams.
“This league will play a very crucial role and we are very hopeful that we’ll create a pool of talented future stars since these kids are going to be properly developed and trained because previously we have lost pure talent due to lack of competitions,” he said.
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