Referees starting to pick up praise

That's right, our much-maligned men in black are being heralded for their commonsense outlook and it appears that the advent of Keith Hackett in his role as head honcho has brought the referees back to an almost 'old-school' style approach. However, not everything is old-fashioned as the referees' fitness levels are reaching new heights since the inception of professionalism. This hasn't happened by accident and they are subjected to rigorous testing by those in the know at Lilleshall Hall. Sam Howells is the Senior Sports Physiologist at Lilleshall and she spoke to Ian Clarkson exclusively for givemefootball about the 'no pain - no gain' philosophy.

"The refs are tested several times a year depending on which group they are in," she said. "Select refs four times, National List three times and Select assistants twice.

"However, all referees and assistants from Contributory to Select level have to pass a summer fitness test before they can start the season. This involves undertaking several submax stages and a max stage, which are monitored throughout for Heart Rate, blood lactate concentration and VO2.

"They have to reach a VO2 max of 50, which basically means reaching the end of Level 10 on the bleep test for example. A lot of the referees aren't young men and not all of them are full time, but they have to reach this stage.

"This information is used for training and monitoring purposes, but if they do not reach the required standard then they can be taken off their games. The standards are implemented because the demands on a referee is very tough.

"In elite games referees can cover up to 13km with assistants covering up to 8km and a lot of this is high intensity work."

If that doesn't sound like hard work to you then Howells has some statistics to back up the theory.
She continued: "If you consider that player studies have shown that players, in general, cover less distance then the need for a good level of fitness becomes apparent.

"A study on Premiership players in 200 showed that top-flight players covered up to 11km.
"Our work doesn't stop with testing as all referees are given individual training and dietary programmes.

"Most referees (all of the Select group) will now wear heart rate monitors during training and games and download these for analysis. This means we can develop a training programme as specifically as possible in relation to match demands.

"In addition, most Premiership grounds have a system called ProZone, which is a series of video cameras that track movement around the pitch.

"This also allows us analysis to see how long they spend standing, walking, jogging, running and sprinting - again very useful for development of training programmes.

"I would say that our referees are as fit as they have ever been and that is essential in a game that is as quick as it is nowadays."

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A TEST PROTOCOL FOR THE SELECT GROUP AND NATIONAL LIST OF REFEREES

a)    Height
b)    Weight
c)    Skinfold measurements

Treadmill Assessment
a)    Five minute warm-up @ 6.5mph
b)    Treadmill set @ 1% gradient
c)    HR recorded at end of warm-up
d)    BLa sample taken

Submaximal Assessment
a)    Treadmill set @ 1% gradient
b)    4/5 x 4 min stages
-) 7.1, 7.7, 8.3, 8.9 up to 9.5mph if necessary
c)    Continuous VO2 analysis (unless mouthpiece used - last two minutes)
d)    HR recorded at end of stage
e)    BLa sample taken during break
f)    60s max break between stages.

Five-minute recovery period
a)    Subject to remain on treadmill @ 3.5mph

VO2 max stage
a)    8mph for duration
b)    Gradient starting at 1%
c)    Gradient to increase by 1% every 30s until volitional exhaustion
d)    HR recorded every 30s
e)    BLa sample taken at end of test