Referees?

Question
QUESTION: Hey, My name is Karla, I am currently 20y/o. I was wondering if AWF does training for people, who not only want to do professional wrestling, but for people who are thinking of training to be a referee. I would love to be a wrestler but i have torn my ACL twice, so it's not probable, but i still want to be involved in the wrestling business. Is there much in the way of refereeing?

ANSWER: Hello Karla,
AWF does train referees and managers in addition to wrestlers. The cost is $400 and training takes place under a modified Beginners course. It is about 3 months in length, held every Saturday. The next course begins on the 20th June, so you may participate in that one. You can find more information on the AWF site. Click on 'School' and scroll down.

How have you torn your ACL? What time was in between? If it was a relatively short period of time, one injury might have led to the other, which means that maybe you just needed more time to recover or do some other things to help your recovery. In pro wrestling, you are going to get some injuries, but you can help prevent this by doing various things- massaging, stretches, protecting yourself properly in the ring, proper diet, muscular activation therapy, are the ones I can think of.

Your previous injuries doesn't necessarily mean you cannot be a wrestler- maybe you just need to change the way, or how many different ways, you protect yourself. If you start off training as a referee, you might then return for wrestling training in the future if you ever feel comfortable about giving it a shot. Since being a referee involves physical activity as well, if you can handle that well, that might help you to feel safer about giving it another shot.

I'm not precisely sure what you mean by 'is there much in the way of refereeing.' If you mean money, then no. Technically, there isn't much money for independent wrestlers either. If you mean is it difficult to learn to be a referee, again no. If you mean is it important, than yes. While the basics of refereeing is simple, there are aspects to it that are difficult to master. That is why there are adequate referees and great referees. Great referees as well as the wrestlers together make a match great. Consistent counts mean that those near-falls are more possible and facilitating communication between wrestlers for a more streamlined, organised match. In major promotions especially, wrestlers fight over which referees do their matches.

Even the basics of refereeing mean you'll be doing a lot of moving and particularly if you referee a lot of matches in a night, your hands can hurt, at least at first, after so many counts. Refereeing shouldn't be boring, if that is what you are worried about.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Well I tore my ACL firstly when playing soccer, i got taken out by another player, tore it when she landed on the side of my knee, that was when i was 14. I tore it again when i was 19, in a car accident, along with other injuries but my ACL was the worst. It still hurts when i do too much, or over stress the joint. When i said 'is there much in the way of refereeing' i meant is there much of a demand for referees in Australia, or even overseas?

Answer
Hello again Karla,

From what you've said, it does look like you can rule out being a wrestler.

There is demand for referees, but not a great deal of demand. After all, independent promotions can get by with one to three referees, only major promotions which have more matches in an equivalent time period have a need for more referees. There are many more wrestlers needed for a promotion than with other roles osuch as announcers or referees.

During referee training, you may be given contact information to help you to locate a job, or even get to work as a referee in that promotion, especially if you are impressive during the training course. Alternatively, you many have to do some searching yourself, looking on the websites of promotions to see which express demand or a referee.Whenever you see the word booking on a promotion's website, that may refer to referees and not just wrestlers.

There would definitely be some greater demand in some parts of the world, where pro wrestling is very much growing. New promotions are more likely to have a need for referees, as are growing promotions. New promotions continue to spring up so if you are having difficulties getting work, looking at the relevant forums or other websites about pro wrestling in a state or nation could help point you at directions morel likely to have use for your services as a referee.

One such site that may be of use for further information or help in the future, would be the Australian Wrestling Forum (link here: http://www.wrestling.net.au/forum/australian-wrestling-forum/) which features up-to-date news and discussion from the wrestlers, announcers, promoters and others in the Australian pro wrestling scene.

Overall, there would be a fair, but fluctuating level amount of demand, with the standard level varying on location. Places where there are many promotions in one area increase the chance of you being able to find a position. You would want to start by checking the local promotions first. You should be able to find numerous opportunities, but it could be a little hit and miss at first as not every promotion will have a need for another referee.