Football Brisbane Welcomes Steve Jones
Football Brisbane is pleased to welcome Steve Jones to the organisation as our Referee Development Officer. Steve comes on board, bringing a wealth of experience through his many years of working in the youth referee development space as both a coach and a member of the youth referee technical committee. His role will centre around the development of our grassroots referees at a junior and senior level, whilst also identifying and progressing those displaying potential to journey through the ranks of becoming match officials at the higher levels. Steve explains, “Working within the national framework, I’d like to develop a pathway within Brisbane that helps identify the really good referee’s earlier and which underpins Football Queensland’s development structure.” He adds, “We need to build and develop a larger pool of referees with the potential and passion to progress further in the game via elite pathways provided by Football Queensland. Just as importantly, work to support and improve those who are content to referee games at a lower divisional level within Brisbane, both junior and senior referees alike, and who don’t necessarily have a desire to referee Brisbane Premier League, FQPL, NPL or even A-League/W-League level.” Steve would also like to work with the clubs and team coaches to help educate and resolve any issues they may be encountering, which in turn can assist with the development of our referees. He explains, “I’d like to find a common ground where clubs and coaches can talk with us, maybe from a particular team that has had issues interacting with referees or is having problems understanding certain interpretations of the laws of the game. They can approach us and seek clarification or get an explanation of what might be happening. This should make the game more enjoyable for all involved. Nobody has a monopoly on good ideas and we need the input of the football community as a whole to be a part of developing referees as well as players and coaches.” Steve concludes, “Where we have video coverage, we can review games and use this as a learning tool for referees, discussing law interpretations and decision making and identifying where improvements can be made.” With Steve on board working closely with and developing our referees, Football Brisbane is excited to be heading into a new era for the game in 2018 and beyond, and we hope our clubs will value his services with regards to our commitment for improving the standard of refereeing in our zone.
