Referee talents with good prospect - Stocktaking after completion of preliminaries at the Youth WC in Qatar -
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In Qatar not only the participating nations hope for young hopefuls with good prospect but also forward-looking IHF has consciously nominated young referees from four continents for this tournament. Youngest couple are the Belarussian referees who are 26 years old.

When taking stock after completion of the preliminary round the outcome was positive throughout:

- Implementation of the new IHF Rules effective since 1 August 2005 without major problems.
- In particular new running and moving principles, which have been the focal point during preparatory courses – changes were indispensable due to the rising game speed, were implemented successfully and quickly by the well prepared referees.
- Rules interpretation such as passive play and the younger referees’ generally well trained comprehension of the game had a positive influence on the matches. It goes without saying that there is still room for improvement. Daily training lessons including video analysing focus on the following items:
- Actions on the goal-area line and a more consequent line regarding 7m decisions.
- Identify provocations correctly, e.g. provocated offensive foul (“theatre“).
- Further key subject was tactical training for referees such as concerted observation aspects in different defence formations or behaviour of attackers and defenders when blocking / breaking free. Here, the IHF trusts in the co-operation between the Commissions for refereeing and coaching, which should stimulate other continents and nations in the development of their training measurers.

Preliminary result:
It is true that IHF’s young referees still have to learn a lot including confident appearance in difficult situations in particular, or body language. Anyway, a new referee generation has been started in Qatar hoping for a good future. A signal for all nations to give young referees a chance in their countries.