Football-mad girls across Lincolnshire are being put off becoming referees because they find the male-heavy environment intimidating, a regional development officer has said.
The Lincolnshire Football Association (LFA) are now running an all-female course to encourage more youngsters to take up officiating.
Declan Ford, LFA referee development officer, said: “Not every girl wants to be in a room with 20 other teenage lads. It’s to create a safe environment and give them that option.”
The 52-year-old from Stragglethorpe added: “There’s a lot of interest out there and we’re just trying to get more girls into the game.”
It comes after the English FA revealed last week that there are now 3,139 registered female referees across the country, which exceeded their 2024 target of 2800.
Ford said: “We’ve got 54 female refs in the county all at various levels. Although it’s blossomed significantly in the last few years, it’s still just building that base level so it becomes the normal thing.”
The LFA have run several other courses throughout the year, but say there is only ever minimal sign up from girls and women
Kirsty Dixon, a 29-year-old football development officer from Sleaford said: “It can be quite an intimidating space so this is an opportunity for girls to explore the avenue of refereeing they may not have thought about in the past.”
She said that not only will the course teach them the laws of the game, but valuable transferable life skills of communication, management and admin.
Dixon added: “We know that particularly in the female game, if you see it, you can be it.”
