Referee Support Group

Swindon & District Referee Support Group is part of the Swindon & District Football League in Wiltshire.

Swindon & District Referee Support Group believes in that extra support on and off the pitch to all Referees in Wiltshire through our Buddy Scheme that is overseen by our Referee Appointments Officer Mark Paris-Haines.

We believe the more support offered at the grassroots level will encourage more people to become a referee and stay motivated about refereeing.

Through our programme, we aim to support Referees who think they need that extra support in their careers, we as a group hold regular meetings via “discord” for open and honest discussion amongst your refereeing colleagues.

Swindon & District Referee Support Group will aim to support and develop Referees in order for them to reach their own potential, by having an appointed Buddy Mentor is to support and to recognise the strengths and skills they already have and identifying the most important learning needs at each stage of their refereeing journey. Every report will have specific suggestions for each refer as to improvement actions they might want to consider.

We achieve this by the one to one mentoring and recognise that it’s important that we as a support group focus on the needs of the individual.

This support extends beyond purely how technically well they did but also covers any impact refereeing may have on them. We are fortunate to have immediate access to Wiltshire FAs Referee Mental Health Champion to support for both on and off field issues that may arise.

Our Buddy Mentors are a group of experienced well respected volunteers, with a commitment to supporting colleagues at the early stage of their refereeing and all are qualified Referees with 5 years or more experience as an active Referee.

Our Team:

    • Lead: Mark Paris-Haines
    • Lead Mentor: Jeremy Moyse
    • Senior Buddy Mentor: Keith White
    • Buddy Mentor: Andrew Fox
    • Buddy Mentor: Shaun Mcombie
    • Referee Support Officer/Buddy Mentor: Ted Lewis
    • Referee Support Officer: Brian Bennet Murdoch

For further information please contact Mark Paris-Haines