This contribution was written by hockey referee Stijn ter Huurne
Last Friday, 9 June, a sports event took place in which no fewer than 6,000 secondary school students from all over the Netherlands participated: The School Final of Olympic Moves. During this sports event, secondary school students compete to become the best in the Netherlands in 18 different sports. These students had already shown they were the best in the region by winning the regional finals. Today they competed for the title ‘Best in the Netherlands’.
During this day, I, Stijn ter Huurne, was present as one of the referees and officiated various pool matches and the final with the AXIWI communication system. From that perspective, I wrote this article. In an earlier article, I wrote about how my fellow referees and I officiated the Dutch National Girls U16 team matches with AXIWI.
Fewer misunderstandings and better decision-making
Hockey was one of the 30 sports during The School Final of Olympic Moves. A total of around 350 students from school teams competed at hockey club Upward for the win. Where there is hockey, there are referees. At this tournament, where the hockey level was very high, it was naturally important to have good referees to manage and ensure smooth matches. We partly achieved this by using the AXIWI communication systems. An important advantage of working with AXIWI during this tournament, and particularly during the final, is minimising misunderstandings and confusion during the match. In an environment full of noise and excitement from enthusiastic students, it is difficult for referees to hear or understand each other. With the AXIWI headsets, this problem is solved because the communication goes wirelessly and directly to each referee’s ear. This ensures clear and undistorted communication, reducing misunderstandings; the quality of decision-making and the credibility of decisions are improved.
Professionalism
In previous years, the matches at this tournament were officiated without a communication system. This usually went perfectly fine. In some cases, however, this meant that players full of adrenaline felt the referees were acting unprofessionally and sloppily; especially when time had to be stopped again for consultations. The use of communication systems contributes to the professionalism of The School Final. It emphasises the importance of modern technology in sport and shows that the organisers strive for a high level of Fair Play.
By using the AXIWI communication systems, referees can manage matches in a professional manner. It ensures that the final is a fair and exciting experience for all participating schools. All of this ensured that the students had a super sporty and fun day.
Wireless referee communication system
In sports, including at amateur level, it is increasingly common for multiple referees to manage a match as a team. For effective communication between referees, AXIWI introduces the wireless, hands-free referee communication system. The AXIWI communication system is very affordable compared to its competitors: other brands are 3 to 6 times more expensive! Meanwhile, AXIWI is successfully used in sports such as handball, korfball, basketball, football, hockey, volleyball, baseball, water polo, rugby, ice hockey and floorball.
