Respect and Reward Scoring Update
Since September this season, Match Officials have been able to submit Respect Marks for the players, coaches, and spectators of the teams they have been officiating. This has allowed us to more accurately track behaviour in football within our area, and recognise those teams who show good conduct on and off the pitch on a match day. Between September and the end of December, 499 matches were scored. Of the 998 teams marked, 89% were scored 8-10 out of 10, compared to 3.4% who were scored 5 or less out of 10. This is a huge majority of football being played the right way, and shows that those who do not are in a significant minority.
Some potential key trends can also be seen. Notably, a possible correlation between coaches behaviour and player behaviour. When a team’s coaches have been scored a Respect Mark of 5 or less, the Respect Mark of the players drops to an average of 5.2 out of 10, compared to an overall average of 8.75 out of 10. However, when a team’s Coaches have achieved a Respect Mark of 8-10, their player’s Respect Mark increases to an average of 9.4 out of 10. This effect is replicated in both Youth and Senior football. This follows common belief within football that a coach’s conduct is mirrored by their team and, is a reminder to coaches of the positive impact they can have on their players and the game.
This scheme’s aim is to recognise and reward teams who consistently show high levels of respect towards match officials and support making football a positive environment for all. Negative incidents are sparse in comparison to the number of games played every week, but they take up a huge amount of resource and energy to deal with. This unfortunately leaves little space for recognising the majority who play the game the right way, which this scheme is looking to amend.
On January 30th, some of the highest scoring teams will be rewarded with £500 of Kitlocker Vouchers to be won. Likewise, Referees who have submitted Respect Marks will be entered into a prize draw with another £500 of Kitlocker Vouchers to be won. All matches scored up to and including Sunday 29th January will be included. The scheme will continue throughout the season with more rewards up for grabs in May!