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Study highlights challenges in getting young people to become sports referees - and potential solutions
Dr Tom Webb
University news / Research news / Global Business Services
Tuesday 29 September 2026
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A new study examining how more young people can be encouraged into sports officiating has suggested a number of key steps organisations could take.
Dr Tom Webb, an expert on sports officiating at Coventry University, is lead author of the REFS report, an EU-funded study focused on young officials between the ages of 14-20.
It examines how young people enter sport officiating, how they develop confidence and identity, what challenges they face and what sporting organisations can do to improve recruitment, retention and long-term progression.
The study involved major international sporting organisations such as the European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE), Badminton Europe, the Dutch Olympic Committee, the International Federation for Sports Officials (IFSO), Sport Malta, AFCAM and EuroHockey.
It analysed interviews with officials across eight countries in 12 different sports and a European survey completed by more than 500 young sports officials.
In the short-term the study proposes that sports organisations introduce early mentoring for officials, strengthen match day protection and reporting to tackle abuse, and make entry routes more visible.
Among the report’s long-term suggestions are positioning officiating as a recognised youth development pathway and shifting the sporting culture towards one of greater respect for officials.
It’s so important that we support the next generation of sports officials, because without the numbers entering the system, fixtures just won’t be able to happen, which could have a knock-on effect on participation and health repercussions.
We found that nine out of ten young officials play sport themselves, they are self-motivated to officiate and they’re already part of the sporting ecosystem. However there are issues with ongoing support and there are instances of abuse which can result in people dropping out.
This report highlights a number of long-term potential solutions, but also short and medium-term ones that could provide us with some quick wins. We found that many young officials recognised the skills benefits it brings- transferable skills that they can carry through into their daily and professional lives. However on the whole these benefits only became apparent to our participants once they had begun taking part, so it’s very important that we do more to raise awareness of the benefits of officiating right from the beginning, to bring more officials into sport.
Dr Tom Webb
Earlier this month Dr Webb presented the report’s findings to representatives of some of the UK’s major sporting organisations during an event at Lord's Cricket Ground.
Accompanying the report, Dr Webb led the production of a Compendium of Good Practice designed to showcase and promote initiatives, programmes, policies and practices that support the recruitment and retention of young sport officials.
The REFs project will continue into 2027 with a European Conference on the findings set to take place.
Find out more about the REFS project.
