Kanga Cup Referees

Do you enjoy refereeing? Have you ever wanted to be involved in an international competition as an official?

Kanga Cup is a great chance to improve your refereeing ability while meeting new people and making new friends along the way.

There are two great options for getting involved either by submitting an application to join the Kanga Cup Youth Referee Academy or by refereeing locally.

Capital Football welcomes and is grateful for the support from Football West, Football Brisbane, Football Victoria, Football NSW, Sutherland Shire Football Referee Association, Manly Warringah Football Referee Association, Football Hervey Bay and Central Coast.

Along with international support from Auckland Football Federation (NZ) and Mainland Football (NZ). Referees from England, Italy, South Korea, Hong Kong and America have been involved over the past years. 

Kanga Cup Youth Referee Academy (KCYRA)

                                   

 To Apply

Kanga Cup Local Referee

This is another great way of being involved as a referee during the competition. As a local referee you will be paid for the fixtures that you officiate in. You are simply required to submit your availability along with your application form so that the Kanga Cup appointment officer can appoint you accordingly.

To Apply

To apply as a local referee please click:

Kanga Cup Local Referee Application Form

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Interview with Italian Referee Iurij Italiani and 2011 KCYRA

CF: Did you enjoy yourself at Kanga Cup? What is one thing you’ll take away from the week?

II: Definitely yes. Under the professional aspect I have improved a lot on the line (I did only 4 games on the line before Kanga Cup). I will also take with me the great cooperation among colleagues and the mostly relaxed atmosphere I have experienced on the fields - everything will come up just looking at the medal I have received for the Under 18 Girls grand final.

CF: As first Italian referee of a Kanga Cup, how did you find refereeing in Australia to back at home?

II: Let's say I have already had a taste of the Australian football with the all age games in Sydney, where it must be said that the tactics go messed up towards the end of the game, when teams stop to "play" and a hole creates in the middle of the field, forcing the referee to run up and down to follow the long passes. Further than this, I have found a quieter and more respectful atmosphere on average if compared to the more stressed football world in Italy - where complaining against others, mostly the referees, sadly seems to be a must. My cards average in Australia dropped down significantly, and during Kanga Cup I only had to give one yellow card only in 8 matches.

CF: Are there any tournament back Italy or Europe that compare to Kanga Cup?

II: I definitely know "Torneo della Pace" in Rovereto, where I have refereed in 2009: teams came from all over Europe even if the tournament was squeezed into the Easter weekend and referees were coming from the local branch. Something more similar, which anyway I haven't tried so far, can be found on the "Tournaments Abroad" website, which is actually the place where I initially knew about Kanga Cup (I reckon a stronger cooperation may be started). Internet address is: http://tournamentsabroad.jimdo.com/

CF: Your referee shirt has interesting pockets, do you think the Italian shirt pockets are more practical than the shirts worn by Australian and New Zealand referees?

II: I think they are tailored to the size of cards and match book we use in Italy. I find them quite handy, though I have already lost a couple of Euro toss coins. Honestly a bit more comfortable than the "classical" ones used in Australia / New Zealand.

CF: After refereeing plenty of fixtures during the week, which match was your favourite and why?

II: Please let me pick two of them. One is the Under 16 semifinal where I have been 1st assistant because of the quality of the game, very uncertain during the 70 minutes (full time result was 0-0) and then decided by two great goals during extra time. Match directed by my colleague Ashley, who -in my humble opinion- performed outstandingly in the centre. The second one is the Under 13 second group match I have refereed on Wednesday at Waramanga between Marist and Balmain. The players put their best effort and there has been true competitiveness, but eventually score was 0-0. Nevertheless the match was not over: the two teams decided to take a picture all together and invited even me and my two assistants to be in it. This is what football (and sport in general) should be. I really appreciated it and indeed I even asked them to get the pictures at the end of the tournament.

CF: What advice would you give to younger referees?

II: I think best advices can be given by the great coaches we have had during the week. On my side I can tell them they have a great chance to go far and achieve great matches in the future (I have started too late to even think about it), but my best advice, whatever will be the level they reached by them, is never to give up but rather to go over any possible delusion due to the appointments or to some bad events on the fields. This is because young referees are the future of football which, without them, could not be played.