Introduction

Sports science has produced a relatively vast literature on athletes’ training and mental preparations for competition. Scientific knowledge related to soccer (football) referees has been sporadic prior to the current millennium and has increased slowly over the last decade (Catteeuw, Helsen, Gilis, & Wagemans, 2009). This general lack of knowledge could be considered odd given that coaches, players, supporters and the media often discuss the referees’ performance, sometimes with high emotion. Following a tied home game against Sunderland in October 2009, the famous Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson told the press that 49-year-old referee Alan Wiley “was not fit enough for a game of that standard and that is an indictment of our game” (Johansen, 2015). ProZone analyses revealed that during that game, Wiley actually covered a total distance of 11.039 km (slightly above the average for the players) and maintained an average distance of 17.7 m from the ball; well within the 20 m limit required by the Football Association in the United Kingdom (Szczepanik, 2009).

In recent years, several studies have focused on the activity profile and physical demands of soccer refereeing (Caballero et al., 2011; Helsen & Bultynck, 2004; Krustrup & Bangsbo, 2001; Krustrup, Mohr, & Bangsbo, 2002, 2005; Krustrup et al., 2009; MacMahon, Helsen, Starkes, & Weston, 2007; Mohr, Krustrup, & Bangsbo, 2005; Weston, Bird, Helsen, Nevill, & Castagna, 2006). One study showed that the mean distance covered during international matches of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champion League and UEFA cup games was 10.3 km by International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) licensed referees and 6.8 km for FIFA licensed assistant referees (Krustrup et al., 2009). There is, of course, a difference between the activity profiles and physiologic demands for referees and assistant referees. Krustrup et al. (2002) found that mean heart rates for referees and assistant referees was 162 (85% of maximal heart rate) and 137 (73% of maximal heart rate) beats/min–1, respectively. This difference is consistent with findings by Helsen and Bultynck (2004) among top-class UEFA referees and assistant referees. Based on these investigators’ physical demand categories, referees appear to spend most of their match time in the maximum effort and high-intensity categories, while assistant referees perform predominantly in the high- and low-intensity categories (Helsen & Bultynck, 2004).

Referees’ physical capabilities are one of several important predictors of their match performance. The core of referees’ performance is the decisions they make, and their capacities for endurance and sprinting are their only means of obtaining sufficient information to make those decisions. Positioning during the game is an important antecedent to making reliable decisions, which they must do continuously throughout the game. However, there are other predictors of a more psychological nature that might be detrimental to their decision process. These may include emotional factors such as stress (Jones, Meijen, McCarthy, & Sheffield, 2007) and self-confidence (Wolfson & Neave, 2007) as well as cognitive elements that may negatively impact the decision process such as heuristics, framing, and anchoring (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973).

Heuristics refers to a decision-making strategy that reduces cognitive load. For example, if a referee is in doubt about whether to show a red or yellow card and uses a rule of thumb to decide on a red card, then both framing and anchoring will be important elements in the decision-making processes and the establishment of perceived justice between the opponents. The specific rules of the game, which can be considered the referees’ declarative knowledge, also form the background that the referee must consider in order to achieve errorless enforcement (Poolton, Siu, & Masters, (2011). Kruger, Emekci, Strydom and Ellis (2012) investigated selected predictors of the stress experienced by South African soccer officials and found that concerns about their fitness were rated as the highest contributor, followed by role-culture conflicts.

Mental training refers to systematic and consistent psychological skills practice for the purpose of enhancing performance. Weinberger and Gould (2011) suggest that mental training may include exercises that influence concentration, regulate arousal levels, enhance confidence and maintain motivation. Among elite athletes, mental training such as imagery is used to some extent by at least 90% of Olympic competitors (Murphy, Jowdy, & Durtschi, 1990; Orlick & Partington, 1988). Any form of training towards acquiring self-knowledge involves time and definite goals. Time spent on mental training and trust in these methods requires a certain level of motivation and, according to Behncke (2004), even more motivation than physical-based training that has more quantifiable results that are more regularly measured. There may not be immediate results from mental training, which requires patience and persistence (Strean & Roberts, 1992). According to Mathers and Brodie (2011), mental skill training is particularly relevant to elite soccer referees. These investigators developed a mental skills programme (which includes development of imagery, positive self-talk and relaxation training as part of a pre-match routine) that has been associated with improvements in refereeing performance.

Mental training is generally considered a performance enhancement procedure but soccer referees’ decision-making may also be influenced by other, unmediated practice. Informal discussions with other referees are regarded as a core activity towards establishing a professional identity and practice community (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Playing and watching soccer in combination with causal conversations with coaches are considered potentially productive activities. According to Engström (1987), we will always learn something but the learning might be productive, reproductive, unproductive or even unwanted. Werthner and Trudel (2006) suggest that elite coaches’ learning can be understood in terms of mediated, unmediated and internal processes. Applying these concepts to a refereeing context, mediated learning is directed by an instructor or coach whereas there is no instructor present in unmediated learning. Thus, in unmediated learning situations the referee must take the initiative and responsibility for choosing what to absorb. To the best of our knowledge, the extent of such unmediated practice (as opposed to goal-oriented education) has not been dealt with in the soccer referee literature. However, Philippe, Vallerand, Andrianariosa, & Brunel (2009) suggest that soccer referees are highly motivated and passionate about officiating, and their findings shows that league level is related to the strength of this passion. Furthermore, Phillippe with colleagues (2009) argue that this passion to pursue higher league levels leads to investment of more hours in training and preparations, which also seems to be in line with Ericsson’s (2006) theory of deliberate practice and expert performance. Following this reasoning, it should be expected that elite referees are exposed for more unmediated learning situations in the same manner as extended physical and mental training.

Methods

Results

As shown in Table 1, one out of ten elite and sub-elite referees engaged in physical training 6 days per week or more. The majority reported physical training for 4–5 days per week (elite 84% and sub-elite 70%, respectively). None of the referees trained fewer than 2 days per week. Moreover, the median (iqr) amount of weekly endurance training was 5 (2) h for elite referees and 4 (3) h for sub-elite referees. The median (iqr) amount of sprint (speed) training was 1 (1) h for elite referees, and 2 (2) h for sub-elite referees.

Table 2 shows the difference between elite and sub-elite referees regarding mental training. There was a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of mental training between groups, with elite referees engaging in mental training more often than sub-elite referees. The data from the open-ended question regarding mental training reveal that visualization was the most used mental training method (32) followed by concentration training (8) and self talk (7). The remaining eight statements were categorized as “other” mental training methods.

Table 3 shows the distribution of responses for the five questions labelled “involvement in unmediated learning situations”. When combining the questions into one sumscore representing a total amount of involvement in unmediated learning situations, an independent samples t-test indicated no statistically significant difference between elite and sub-elite referees (Cohen’s d = 0.17).

Discussion

The aim of this study was to investigate elite soccer referees’ training volume and content, application of mental training, and involvement in unmediated soccer practice. Beside the description of practice, a comparison of elite and sub-elite referees might reveal underlying performance principals that may form a basis for trainings methods facilitating improvement. Among our sample, 85% of referees report that they practice more than 3 days per week and 77% report that they engage in more than 3 h of endurance training per week. Furthermore, sprint training seems to be prioritized, since only two out of 82 respondents reported that they did not prioritize that kind of training. When exposed to physical tests measuring both their endurance and speed, the referees’ general reported training volume and content seem to be coherent with the requirements (Caballero et al., 2011; Helsen & Bultynck, 2004; Krustrup & Bangsbo, 2001; Krustrup et al., 2002, 2005; Krustrup et al., 2009). Compared with premier league Norwegian soccer players who report a daily average of 2.5 h of football practice (Toering & Jordet, in press) it can be argued that the referees’ training volume is too small. However, it must be considered that endurance and sprint capacity are the only prerequisites for referee performance and that these give the referee an opportunity to gather relevant knowledge in the referee situation.

In general, most of the referees reported training volume and content considered sufficient to accomplish the Norwegian Football Association requirements and small variations in key variables such as training volume and content should be expected. However, recent research shows that self-reported physical activity compared with results from accelerometry differs, and that these differences increase with higher activity and intensity level (Dyrstad, Hansen, Holme, & Anderssen, 2014). Thus, there is a question about the validity of self-reported training volume and content. Although it can be argued that a more nuanced measurement may have greater potential to identify variation between the groups, it is still only considered as a prerequisite performance variable that is unlikely to have the potential to discriminate between elite and sub-elite proficiency. Observations of referees have shown that running backwards is common, while assistant referees mainly sprint sideways (Krustrup et al., 2009) suggesting that future testing and training surveys should include these movement patterns.

Orlick and Partington (1988) showed that of the three major readiness factors—mental, physical and technical—only mental readiness was significantly related to final Olympic ranking. Mental training, such as imagery, is used to some extent by at least 90% of Olympic competitors (Murphy et al., 1990), while 69% of the referees in the present study report that they practice mental training. The open-ended question about the content of mental training revealed that visualization emerges as the most frequent used method among the referees (approximately 60% of the statements). Our results show a significant difference between elite and sub-elite referees, with 13% of elite referees reporting that they never practice mental training compared with 42% in the sub-elite group. These findings are consistent with those of Slack, Maynard, Butt and Olusoga (2013), who interviewed English Premier League referees and found that motivation or dedication among elite referees emerged as an important element underpinning football officiating excellence. Compared with 90% of Olympic competitors who use mental training (Murphy et al., 1990) a similar proportion (87%) of our elite referee group reported doing so. This finding supports Behncke’s (2004) assumption that a certain level of motivation and trust in these methods are required to spend time on mental training. In the elite group, more referees have a higher motivation compared with the sub-elite group and they may overcome the fact that the effects of mental training are not immediate and instead require patience and persistence (Strean & Roberts, 1992). Behncke (2004) has also suggested that mental training requires more motivation than physical training, for which quantifiable results are more frequently measured.

The present findings support this contention since there were no significant differences between elite and sub-elite referees’ reported physical training, while elite referees reported more extensive use of mental training than sub-elite referees did. Comparing the results of both mental and physical training between these groups reveals that the elite referees are more homogeneous; in other words, there are fewer individuals who self-reported on the lower levels of the scale. This finding is expected because they are ranked as the most skilled referees and less physical and mental practice may impair their performance and exclude them from the elite group. Hence, Johansen and Haugen (2013) found in their study of the same elite soccer referees that this group reported higher anxiety scores than did sub-elite referees. One may conclude that the mental training conducted by the elite referees is not only required for their performance level but also to maintain their status as top-class referees. Moreover, Table I and II display that many (n = 17) of the referees in the sub-elite group practice mentally and physically just as much as the referees in the elite group, possibly indicating that they may become members of the elite group. However, as displayed in Table II, 42% of this group never practice mentally, and this might be an expression of their satisfaction with their performance level and that they are unwilling to invest greater effort to become an elite referee.

Gould, Giannini, Krane and Hodge (1990) have shown that experience with and observation of other successful coaches is among the most important ways that coaches develop their coaching style. Such practice can be conceptualized as unmediated and internal learning processes using Werthner and Trudel’s (2006) terminology, and may indicate that unmediated learning processes are important in sports science. The results in Table III show that 73% of the referees play soccer to some extent, while 89% watch soccer matches weekly or more often. All of the respondents reported that they participated in some level of informal discussion with other referees and 73% reported doing so weekly or more often. These activities are regarded as important and as contributing towards establishing a professional identity and community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991). The relationship between elite coaches and referees can be tense at times during matches but the tendency displayed in Table III suggests a small extent of connection between them after the matches. The findings in Table III show that this connection occurs occasionally and only four of the 82 referees reported that it occurred weekly. More frequent connections between elite coaches and elite referees might be problematic in that it could generate suspicion about a lack of integrity; our results indicate that the referees make a point of balancing this. Engström (1987) argues that we will always learn something, but the learning direction might be productive, reproductive, unproductive or even unwanted. In general, our findings revealed that referees are involved in a number of unmediated processes by which they may be influenced. As far as we know, the extent of this unmediated practice (non-goal-oriented education) has not been dealt with in soccer referee literature. It appears from our findings that it is important for referees to take the initiative and the responsibility for choosing what to learn in unmediated learning situations and to ensure that these are productive activities.