300 is the magic number as Cork make referees' recruitment push

A recruitment drive this week and next will help Cork to reach what referees’ board secretary Jim McEvoy terms the ‘magic number’ of 300.

Mallow and Páirc Uí Chaoimh are the venues for the recruitment courses, with 74 potential referees signing up for them. It is part of an ongoing quest to deepen the pool of whistlers in Cork.

McEvoy is referees’ secretary for Rebel Óg and took up a similar role on the referees’ committee that was put together by county board referees’ administrator Niall Barrett and recruitment officer Colm Lyons earlier this summer.

“We surveyed all of the clubs and all of the referees,” he says.

“We gathered a lot of information and then we met the county board.

“We came up with a new referees’ committee then, with 15 members in total and a lot of new areas.

“We have a special area for advisors, which used to be known as assessors. Miah Moynihan looks after that and we have a total of 45 advisors in Cork.

“All championship referees will be looked at and then given advice going forward, which is good. Ninety percent of the advisors would be former referees, the likes of Michael Sheehan, John Daly, John Kearney, James Dorgan.

“It’s positive advice, as well – it’s not looking to ruin referees’ confidence. We also have a mentoring officer, which is Diarmuid Kirwan, and a retention officer in Cormac Dineen. If any new referees need assistance, they will be helped out.”

The need for referees is a constant one, especially given the size of Cork and increase in the number of fixtures – but adult and juvenile – in recent years.

Right now, the county is below the optimal figure, albeit not by much, but as older referees retire, it’s important to have new blood coming up.

“In Rebel Óg alone, there are more than six and a half thousand games each year,” McEvoy says.

“We’re at around 260 referees in Cork at the moment and the magic number is 300, We adult and underage.

“We’ve started two recruitment courses this week – Mallow on Monday night for Avondhu and Duhallow, with 23 signed up for that, and then on Thursday there’s one in Páirc Uí Chaoimh with 51 signed up for that.

“Will all of those people turn up on the night? Perhaps not, but we’re getting the message out there. In what other county would you have tutors of the quality of Colm Lyons, Conor Lane, Diarmuid Kirwan and Michael Collins, all All-Ireland final referees? Imagine the experience and the advice that they’re able to impart to the new people, it’s brilliant.

“This year as well, we’re trying in with Cork ETB, UCC and MTU where we do a course for students as well.

“There’s a pathway now in the Munster Council, where they’re taking referees in in an academy. This year, you had James Regan and Shane Scanlon and for 2024 Patrick O’Mahony from Kilbrittain and Ciarán Murphy from Glanworth will be going forward.

“They’ll be acting as linesmen and fourth officials for U20 and minor games and Shane ended up doing two minor games this year. There’s a pathway there now for young referees, which is great.”

Of course, one obstacle that might put off potential referees is the abuse that comes, from both inside and outside the wire. It’s an area that McEvoy acknowledges as an off-putting factor and, while it’s not something that can be fixed overnight, he is optimistic that there will be an improvement.

“The big thing for us is education,” he says.

“Our aim for next year is to bring in coaches and managers and educate them to go back and educate their clubs.

“Niall Barrett as referees’ administrator has really brought it on and with Colm Lyons in charge of recruitment, you couldn’t get better.”