The GAA will hold a national Respect the Referee Day across the weekend of
October 22 and 23.
Details were announced by Uachtarán CLG Larry McCarthy in Croke Park
today, in the company of members of the inter-county referee national panel.
Uachtarán CLG Larry McCarthy said: “The Association has made referee
recruitment and retention one of the key pillars of our Strategic Plan for the
next five years. Designating refereeing as a core objective of our Strategic Plan
at its launch last April was a declaration of our intent to make this a priority and
this initiative is in keeping with that.
“Our Referee Respect Day is a part of our commitment to raising the profile of
referees and more importantly an awareness among the rest of our membership
about the level of respect that we expect when it comes to supporting match
officials.
“To be the embodiment of the GAA manifesto, Where We All Belong requires
that no one is left out or left behind. The people who act as match officials
ensure our games take place, and without them, there would be no games.
These people are just as important to the GAA as every player, coach,
committee member and volunteer. They are dedicated to Gaelic games, have a
passion for their vocation and have families who are proud of the contribution
they make. How we treat them says something about us and the only treatment
we should tolerate is one of utmost respect.”
Counties that have senior county finals on October 22 and October 23 are
being encouraged to make a particular effort to highlight and celebrate the role
of the referee and match officials at these big games.
There is also a recommendation that referees in a county are invited to these
showpiece finals and that Respect the Referee is a part of the pre-match
protocol on the day.
The GAA also have a number of initiatives aimed at enhancing the levels of
support for match officials.
These include:
• Review of the Rules concerning infractions against Match Officials
• Review of how serious infractions against Match Officials within the
Association are processed.
• Updated training course on discipline procedures for Discipline
Committees at all levels.
• Additional training to Match Officials around reporting disciplinary
action.
• Review of the Give Respect, Get Respect campaign with a rollout in
2023.
The role of the referee will be a feature of the next stage of the GAA marketing
campaign highlighting Where We All Belong and there will be enhanced
supports for referees made available through the GAA’s eLearning platform:
learning.gaa.ie as well as through https://www.gaa.ie/respect/
