GFF to host second quarterly fitness test for referees today

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) will stage its second quarterly fitness test today at the National Track and Field Facility, Leonora from 9:00 hrs.

This test will see the participation of 30 referees,.

The officials present will be tested using the Assistant Referee Intermittent Endurance Test (ARIET) and the Dynamic Yoyo tests, which will be conducted by Lindley Langhorne, Member Association Fitness Instructor.   

Sherwin Moore on the track during a referees fitness test.

Head of the GFF’s Refereeing Department, Stanley Lancaster in explaining the purpose of the tests said: “The ARIET was specially designed with Assistant Referees in mind based on the capacities and movements required in the game.

“The ARIET test mimics a lot of the movement of the Assistant Referees during the game and the Dynamic Yoyo test evaluates the referee’s ability to perform repeat interval runs over a long period of time.

It is very applicable in the modern day game and provides assistance to referees to adapt good positions which can greatly improve their decision making,” Lancaster noted.

The Fitness Instructor added that the tests are new to referees in Guyana but are being used to test the adaptability of the local referees to same.

“We wish to expose our referees to all types of FIFA fitness tests so that in the event or when they’re being appointed to international matches and have to do a test, this won’t be new to them.”

Referees are continuously assessed to ensure they are fit to respond to the physical demands of the game. Being fit also enables them to be mentally composed and help improve game management.