Prospective referees encouraged to sign up
Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Cork County Board has confirmed the venues and details for the new foundation course for prospective referees.
In 2025, 36 referees completed the course, with 26 of them officiating in some of the 13,252 games played in Cork during the year. The sign-up levels for the new course have already exceeded that.
From 2027, clubs operating in the top five county championship tiers that do not have referees will lose home advantage for league matches, giving extra impetus to providing personnel.
“Last year, there were more than 13,000 games played in Cork, across adult and juvenile levels,” said county board referees’ administrator Jim McEvoy.
“There are 29 clubs that don’t have referees and next year there will be sanctions in the form of home advantage.
“The courses are open to all – there has been a healthy level of registration, including a number of females.
“We’ve seen how quickly new referees have progress up the ranks – James Regan is now on the inter-county panel, for instance. If you want to make it as an inter-county referee, you can – but if you just want to referee at a lower level, that’s perfect, too.”
The foundation course is specifically designed for new referees who wish to officiate in football and hurling, with participants having to complete a one-hour online module prior to attending.
Attendance at two face-to-face sessions is required after completing the online module – at some venues, these sessions are held back-to-back.
All new referees must be Garda vetted before officiating at any games and applicants must be 17 years of age or older to take part in this course.
More information can be found at https://www.gaacork.ie/referee.
February 23 and February 26th, 7-9.30pm
February 28, 9.30am-3pm
March 7, 9.30am-3pm
March 9 and March 12, 7-9.30pm
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