MY JOURNEY AS A NIGERIAN REFEREE (Part 2)

Good day everyone and welcome to the another episode of my journey as a Nigerian Referee. In this part 2, I will be talking exclusively on incidences that occurred from when I got my grade 3 certificate to when I got my grade 2 certificate.

Becoming a graded Referee

Immediately one passes the first hurdle of overcoming the RIT level (Referee In Training), you now belonged to the class of graded Referees. This is where your real test starts.
As a grade 3 Referee, you will be addressed as a senior colleague by those still at the RIT level. Whereas , a Grade 3 referee will also address those above him as seniors.

	as a Grade 3 referee

Referee in Nigeria upholds the concept of seniority so much that it is seen as an offense when a junior referee addresses his or her senior just be name without adding senior to it.
To make this case more interesting is that overtaken is allowed. For instance someone might get a Grade 2 certificate first, but failed to pass to Grade 1 after some attempts. If someone who was in grade 3 successful passes to grade 2 and subsequently gets his or grade 1 certificate first, the person becomes a senior to the Referee yet to pass even though he/she had been at the grade 2 level for a while.

This is to encourage everyone to be very serious with both the practical and theoritical aspect of the hobby. If your love and passion is strong enough, you won’t have any problems graduating from each level as at when due.

	my seniors; Ndubuisi Ukah (FIFA Ref) while Aguguesi Franklin (NPFL Ref) stands

My first state fitness test at Grade 3

At the national level, Fitness test is conducted to ascertain the Grade 1 referees Who are physically fit to handle league matches. This format is also used at the State level. Medical check up is conducted on all participants by doctors to make sure everyone is okay to run.

		during medical check up

At the State level, the fitness test is used to prepare the State Grade 1 referees for the upcoming national fitness test and to check their level of preparedness in order to avoid mass failure. It is also used to ascertain fitness level of the other Referees in Grade 2, grade 3 and RIT’s.

	State fitness test warm up

At the end of the State fitness test, a certificate of merit is issued to the successful participants. This certificate of merit also enable my Referee society to be confident in appointing me in some local matches because they know I am in good shape to handle such matches

	certificate of merit

Getting my Grade 2 certificate

Having stayed for the compulsory two year wait, I enrolled for my promotional exam that can enable me move to the next grade in 2016.
I successfully registered, sat for the exams and passed. When the results came out, my name was among the candidates who had passed their exams. I was also presented with my Grade 2 certificate which shows that I was just a Grade away from becoming a National League referee.

	My Grade 2 certificate

Thank you for reading through my journey to become a Nigerian Referee Part 2. Kindly watch out for the next episode.

My introductory post

My journey as a Nigerian Referee (part 1)