UK's first wheelchair-using referee

[Deleted]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33959251

Nineteen-year-old Nathan Mattick has loved football since he was tiny but he quickly realised that his dreams of playing for Chelsea were going to be limited by his cerebral palsy.

But not one to be deterred by his wheelchair, Nathan decided that the next best thing would be refereeing for some of his favourite teams.
He quickly discovered that no one in a wheelchair had ever qualified as a referee before, but with the support of the sports department at the National Star College where he studies, Nathan managed to make the grade.

After passing his exams with Gloucestershire Football Association, he is now qualified to officiate in able-bodied and disabled matches, both indoors and outside.

Fair play to the lad! Wonder if others will realize it's possible and will follow. Really surprised though he's UK's first

[TheCount]

Yeah this is pretty cool, glad to see that he is able to participate in some form with his favorite teams.

[Kalis]

Nineteen-year-old Nathan Mattick has loved football since he was tiny but he quickly realised that his dreams of playing for Chelsea were going to be limited by his cerebral palsy.

He could've tried for Spurs.

Being blind never stopped anyone from being a professional referee. Boom boom.


OT: The problem he faces is not having the dexterity to get out of the way of play, so he probably isn't going to officiate anything other than friendly kickabouts.

[Deleted]

Nice to see. My only concern is him getting in the way of the players, Referees need to be agile and quick on their feet, but being on a wheel chair is going to limit his ability to quickly move out of the way of players and might result on collisions.

Not saying he shouldn't be able to referee, I just don't see it being very practical.

At the end of the day it's all for fun, however I don't see wheel chairs being used in professional games. It would be interesting if maybe they get an overhead chair, sort of like directors get which he could manually control via joystick and spectate the game from above.

[XDurionX]

OT: The problem he faces is not having the dexterity to get out of the way of play, so he probably isn't going to officiate anything other than friendly kickabouts.

This. As much as I admire his will, he won´t be of much use in a "real" game, since he just isn´t mobile enough for such a sport.