Football Australia’s Female Football Week celebrations continued on Wednesday evening, with the second of three webinars taking place.
This time it was female officials who were highlighted, sharing their insights into how they started their career in refereeing and the challenges that they have overcome along the way.
The panel included FIFA Assistant Referee Joanna Charaktis, whose accolades include refereeing the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Final in 2022 and at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™; Renae Coghill, the Elite Coaching Manager for Women’s Refereeing at Football Australia, having served as a FIFA assistant referee from 2015 and 2021; and Molly Godsell, who recently debuted as a centre referee in the A-League Women.
The webinar was hosted by Emma Kocbek, herself a FIFA Assistant Referee, who recently officiated the A-League Women’s Grand Final.
All three reflected on their journeys starting refereeing young, and feeling grateful for the opportunities that they received. Godsell in particular commented on how quickly things can change, from refereeing the National Girls Youth Championships in 2022 to her A-League Women’s debut in 2024.
But what are the important skills – besides hard work – that make a good referee?
“For me, the people management skills,” Charaktis explained. “I think that it's really important to learn how to manage different people from different ages and different backgrounds.”
“That can almost make or break you as a referee because your job can be very, very difficult if you don't have those skills and you aren't able to build some rapport and respect with players.”
“A referee also needs to be really good at being adaptable,” Coghill added.
“No game is the same. No players are the same, so you need to have that adaptability and flexibility to a match to go with tour people management.”
Officiating can be one of the toughest jobs in the business. The panellists discussed the reasons for why they do what they do.
Godsell cited “constant personal growth” as one of her biggest motivators.
“I've never wrapped the game and finished it the same as I started it,” she explained. “I've always been learning. Always before, after and during a game. It gives you the opportunity to learn and grow, personally.”
The game has changed so much in the past few decades for women in football and that has extended to female officials as well. Coghill reflected that she has seen attitudes improve since she started her officiating journey, but that “there is still a long way to improve.”
Charaktis agreed, adding, “I think as women, we often suffer from impostor syndrome, which men don't.
"Working alongside a lot of men at that level, I think that's where you start to realise how prominent impostor syndrome actually is because, typically speaking, men don't tend to experience it, and so you see that men are very confident in themselves, regardless of their experience level.
“There’s a saying… If a female has 90% of the skills for a job she may still not apply for it because she's lacking 10% of those skills. Where a guy may only have 50% and he'll still apply for it and he'll still believe that he's going to get it.
“Sometimes we need to, as women, not let that be a problem for us. If we just believe in ourselves, that's a lot of the hurdle.”
Another massive hurdle for young referees is dealing with the environment that is sometimes created in games. Referee abuse is often cited as the number one reason for the referee shortage that exists throughout the grassroots game in Australia, and indeed the world.
“The biggest barrier [for referees] is because of a lack of human compassion and basic understanding within the nature of football worldwide,” Godsell explained.
“At the elite level, there is high-performance barriers that you come across, but the only consistent thing throughout all levels of football, I believe that stops referees from continuing is people. Players, coaches, everyone, just their basic level of compassion and understanding for the role that referees play in.”“Sometimes [people] think it's their right to yell at a referee,” Coghill added. “They forget that that's someone's daughter or someone's mum. Someone's dad. I think that awareness might help with abuse and different things down the track.”
“It's definitely not an easy feat. It's something that's generational, but there are plenty of things that we can do. Providing that community for those young referees that have got a safe space - like it might be the training where they come together and they can talk about their game, or if you're in an Academy, you've got others like you.
“No one [knows] until you've experienced what it feels like to be out there on the field. You need those colleagues. And to be honest, I wouldn't have gone as far as I have, if I didn't have those people to get me through, because it can be lonely.
“It's about building a safe community from the beginning to the end. You need it at all levels.”
After sharing their experiences refereeing at the top level, the panellists gave some advice to others who were just starting out their officiating journeys.
“My first suggestion would be referee training,” Charaktis said. “I know that in Melbourne that's how I met basically everyone that I know in football before I got into the A-League Women's.
“I'd suggest checking the website of the federation that you belong to, for information about where training venues are. That’s where you'll find other referees that might be of any level, they may not necessarily be just juniors or just seniors.
“It's a good opportunity to either hear other people's stories and then feel a bit better about things that might happen for you or share your own stories and get people's advice - and again, just feel supported.
“Generally, there's someone within the local referee committee that you can ask questions to, and they can either give you an answer or send you to a better source,” Godsell added. “So I really would start just that with your local club and what resources they have.”
You can find out more about becoming a referee via Football Australia’s website.
The theme for Female Football Week 2024, celebrating women and girls in football, is #WeRise. You can find more information about national events here, and check out your member federation to find out more events in your area.
The third and final webinar in the series will be on Sunday at 8 pm AEST, with panellists focusing on Working in Football. You can register for the event here.