Officials perform the vital role of enabling our players to compete within the spirit of the sport through the effective application of its rules and regulations. With the continued increase in the popularity of American football, the demand for officials is growing across all of BAFA’s disciplines and leagues.
The officiating of the sport is organised by the British American Football
Referees’ Association (BAFRA). You can find out more here.
The key to efficient refereeing is proper training. Below you can find out more about how to become a member of BAFRA.
The Qualification Structure
BAFRA offers a development framework which comprises both on field experience, classroom and home-based learning.
It involves the following three cornerstones.
- The Mentorship programme
The Mentorship programme combines one to one training in person or online at your convenience followed by on-field experience. BAFRA allocate new officials to games where an experienced official can mentor them. The programme typically lasts for ten games. The programme can be tailored to your interests in flag or contact Football.
To get started in your training programme register here www.bafra.info/info/howtojoin
- Ongoing training
BAFRA have developed a 6 module classroom/online program designed to prepare rookies for their competency test and officiating their first game. Additionally BAFRA provide online and classroom based training programmes available to all officials to support continued development.
These programmes are designed to provide guidance on application of new rules and regulations in a timely fashion and ensure consistent application of these.
- The Elite Officials programme
At the very pinnacle of officiating performance are the Elite Officials. In order to qualify for this group (limited to 25 officials per year) officials must meet rigorous performance on field and in annual examinations. The annual seniors final Britbowl game crews are selected from this group of top officials and the members also provide a significant number of the mentorship roles in their region.
Please click here or email recruitment@bafra.info to submit your interest in becoming a BAFA official.