Female ref2

Female Only Referee Course

Sarah Wood
Are you ready to take up the whistle?

Excitement for the Women’s World Cup is growing as we edge closer to the start of the tournament and there is no better time to engage new people into game.  We want to encourage as many females as possible to take up the whistle!

With funding support from The FA and Sheffield Hallam University, we are pleased to offer aspiring female officials the Basic Referee Course at a reduced rate of £80 (usual cost is £120).

In addition to a reduction in costs we will also support female referees with paid deployment opportunities within the female game and Regional Talent Club games post full course completion. 

Course Overview

The course provides an introduction to officiating 11v11 and 9v9 football. The course will introduce learners to The Laws of Association Football and their application, delivered through theory and practical elements and focusing on the knowledge, skills and attributes required to operate safely and effectively in grass roots football.

You will also cover a mixture of theory and practical activities;

- Effective communication
- Positioning and movement
- Penalty kick and free kick management
- Managing re-starts
- Advantage
- Managing players
- Recognising and dealing with foul challenges
- Cautioning and sending-off procedure
- Offside
- Dealing with substitutions
- Dealing with injuries


Course Details



St Georges Park Westfield, Moss Way, Sheffield, S20 8FA. 

All candidates must be aged 14 years old or over on the course start date. 

Richard Meek, Coach Development Officer at Sheffield Hallam’s Women’s High Performance Centre is looking forward to supporting female officials; 

“In conjunction with the FA Women's High Performance Centre, we are looking to create a 'Female Referee Mentoring Programme' to enable qualified female referee's to officiate in the FA Girl's Regional Talent Club games across the region. Our aim is to have an all-female team of officials for the girl's games, with full mentoring and development opportunities”.

Qualified referees are able to identify their own referee opportunities; however support will be available to help signpost you to the most appropriate opportunity.  

For further information about the course or access to a booking link please contact Sarah Wood on 0114 261 5504.