Up-skilling all round and that work/life balancing act

On my flight back from a fantastic working week based out of Dubai, I got to reflecting on the seven days of up-skilling over 40 referees, along with thinking about what makes me tick and how I go about getting my work/life balance better.

I was introduced to Jane from corporate affair whilst on a family holiday (yes, I always check out if there’s a chance to get a run out at local Touch League before heading away!), and around 18 months on, I was asked to help out the formalisation of the referee system in the Middle East whilst developing players and referees alike, I obviously jumped at the chance.

The timing couldn’t have been better, as England Touch have recently released a Free Online Foundation Course and are working away in the background on additional materials, whilst plans for the forthcoming Referee Conference in April are in full flow!

I had the pleasure of working with Jordi Bitlloch, and shadowing the Level Two work, as part of my own CPD, which is key to me, allowing me to further develop budding referees in the North of England too, where there’s a distinct lack of presenters and referee coaches/assessors. I delivered of 2 x Level One Courses and co-presented one Level 2 Course, then assessed/coached/assessed the 40 hopefuls at the Super 6s League and 22 Team Tournament following.

The welcome and planning from Jane and the crew, along with the tight circle of their committee was second to none, and we couldn’t have asked for more.

A night with the key personnel at Super 6s and a trip to Abu Dhabi to meet up with MET lead, John Larkins, allowed some in-depth discussions around further opportunities and continued development links, which will be followed up with shortly.

Having met 40 aspiring referees on my first day there, it was excellent to see the enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge in both groups. Two four-hour courses later, we had a huge job to assess/coach/assess as many as possible at the league night. With extra games planned, it was a packed schedule with four fields running.

We got through a huge contingent, and feedback to them at half and full time. Then run to the next field to repeat... and repeat again!

Knowing we’d see a large proportion of them again at Fridays event we did what we could on the night and debriefed til late in the hotel lobby!

Lots more of these great pics online from Melissa Lear.

Following the league assessments, we embarked on running the Level Two course. Some excellent discussions with a super engaged set of participants and an outside practical session to embed the earlier learning.

An early start for the main event, as the music blasted out and the teams started to arrive. Referee briefing done, sunscreen applied and clipboards at the ready, another big day lay ahead!

Hugely impressed with the attitude of the promising refs, feedback given throughout the day and I even got chance to ref a couple of games too, mentoring a few of the aspiring refs.

We upgraded 26 x Level Ones and 4 x Level Twos. With lots of others very close to passing too, a fantastic effort by everyone involved.

It's been great that we could be part of people journey to refereeing, especially the juniors who we might see officiating across the world in years to come!

The eternal work life balance...

My wife and daughter also came along for the trip, and on the days where there was no delivery or coaching, I got to spend some quality downtime with my family site-seeing and splashing around in the pool.

Getting the right work-life balance is something I’ve been looking to improve on more recently (following a great post from Dan Parkinson earlier in the year!), and being able to work and play whilst away has been a breath of fresh air.

Although I still worked everyday I was there, answering emails and planning ahead, I ensured that I had a break, too. Poppy got involved in the tournament too, and loved it!

In my role of COO at England Touch I volunteer as many hours as I do paid work, which has been the case for the last couple of years (actually, probably more like six or seven!), and I’m learning more that it’s not just hard work and long hours that makes me more productive.

A healthy work-life balance is the ultimate goal for many of us, but that can be very challenging, especially when you’re basically running a start-up company, where ultimately, the success of your business lies in your hands, so it’s been hard to switch off and dedicate time to anything else. This is now a must, to avoid burn out and not miss the valuable life experiences that make it all worthwhile.

Learning to let go

As the association continues to grow, my responsibilities are changing and will hopefully allow me to clearly focus on certain areas within my remit. Letting go of others areas will be difficult in the short term as things always fall down the cracks especially in volunteer led organisations, but a longer term delegation will be key to our growth.

Plan and prioritise

I love to be busy, but it’s impossible to address every idea as and when they pop into my head, which is a lot!

I’m a night owl, so working when the family has gone to bed some days/weekends allows me to work in peace without neglecting anyone, and I get to enjoy family time without worrying about what hasn’t been done and I’m beginning to use this time to set out tomorrow’s plans.

Working environment

Working from home is an excellent way to save time and money on travel, but it’s difficult to switch off. My hot-desk office at the National Squash Centre, is based with a number of other sports governing bodies and sports professionals, and is going to be key to address the ‘switch off’ and establish better boundaries.

Take time off

Personally, I find it incredibly challenging to take time off. There’s never a moment when I don’t have something to do, a message (on multiple platforms) to answer, no matter how organised I am. This is the area that I will be focusing on most, as this season is just around the corner.

Onwards!