During half-term, twenty-five Premier League Kicks participants had a Q+A session with referee Will Finnie.
On Thursday 16th February 2023, twenty-five young people from Colchester United Community Foundation’s PL Kicks programme, were given the opportunity to take part in a free football tournament and referee workshop. Professional referee, Will Finnie, delivered a presentation on his journey as an official and then answered a number of questions from the participants.
During the session a range of questions were asked, from “What is your opinion on VAR?” to “How do you become a Premier League referee?”. We spoke to Will Finnie about how he found the session and why it is important for young people to get the chance to meet a referee. Will said “Thank you to Colchester United Community Foundation for the invite to speak to some of their young players about the world of refereeing. It was pleasing to see such great interest in other areas of the game and I hope that they are able to take away some new learning about the fantastic opportunities refereeing can bring young people. It was an enjoyable workshop to take part in with some great questions from around the room! It was exciting to hear about the work Colchester United Community Foundation do to engage with young players and develop their skills and experience on and off the pitch.” We want to thank Will for giving up his time to speak to the participants.
Ed King, Health and Inclusion Officer for CUCF, was also asked about the experience, he said “Firstly, I want to thank the Essex FA and specifically Lukas Wood who was extremely helpful in the organisation of this workshop. We hope this session inspired young people to want to become a referee, as it is a great thing for them to put on a CV and a way of earning some pocket money! I’ve already had a number of emails from parents asking about how they can sign their child onto a course”. From this workshop CUCF are looking to fully fund a couple of places for young people to go on a referee course.
The PL Kicks programme gives young people from high-need areas, the opportunity to access free weekly football sessions during school term-time. In addition, the programme provides the prospect for personal development. We run sessions in four locations, which are:
- Greenstead
- Clacton
- Harwich
- Shrub End
To sign-up or find out further information, please click here.