*Paudie Hayes is among one of the youngest referees at present in Clare. Photograph: Natasha Barton
ADDITION of female referees to the ranks of the Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) has emerged as an aspiration of the current Executive.
Three beginner courses will take place on January 11th, January 18th and January 25th lasting two hours each. The FAI Referee’s Department have announced that the courses will be held online.
PRO of the CDSL, Jim Madden told The Clare Echo, “from our point of view it is important to get new young referees taking charge of our games, equally it is important that we have more female referees”.
“Having a woman in the middle of the pitch in my opinion would improve and influence the discipline of the players,” the Shannon official stated.
Jim spoke of the growing amount of girls playing the game and the success of Clare’s Gaynor Cup squads as reasons to be hopeful that the CDSL can recruit female referees. “We need to bring more women into Clare soccer”.
Madden added, “I’d also like to see more women involved in roles throughout our clubs. I think they are more organised than us men and bring a different dimension”. He referenced “influential” women currently holding roles at clubs across Clare including the “superb” Grainne Hayes secretary of Newmarket Celtic and Lifford’s Deirdre, “you couldn’t ask for better people,” the former CDSL Chairman said.
