MWFRA Entry Level Referee Courses

Becoming a Referee with the MWFRA

Each year the MWFRA trains around 100 new junior and senior referees who undertake the nationally accredited FFA Junior Match Official Referee courses. Refereeing is a rewarding and enjoyable pastime which will allow you to actively contribute to improving the standard of local football, develop management and communication skills, and be paid while enjoying football. We look forward to seeing you at a field shortly.

If you have any questions about becoming a referee, please contact the MWFRA’s Course Coordinator, Robert Iacono, by emailing [email protected]. If you have questions about the registration process, please contact the MWFRA’s Appointments and Administration Officer, Sigrid Mulherin by emailing [email protected].

If you wish to become a Team Referee for an AL2 – O55 team, please see all details HERE.

The Expectations of the MWFRA:

As part of this process, you can expect the MWFRA to:

  1. Deliver nationally certified training delivered by FFA qualified instructors with a follow up practical session before the season starts;
  2. Provide you with a Junior Coordinator who will endeavor to meet with you, to attend some of your games and be available for any questions you may have;
  3. Provide ongoing support through formal practical training sessions and technical information sessions;
  4. Endeavor to mentor all first year juniors as either a referee or assistant referee;
  5. Offer opportunities to progress to higher levels of refereeing such as through higher level local matches, advanced courses or FNSW’s Referee Development Program (subject to referee age, experience and performance).

To become a qualified referee will need to:

  1. Be at least 14 years old on 31 December 2026;
  2. Complete the online Laws of the Game Certificate on etrainu
  3. Complete the Junior Match Official Online course on etrainu
  4. Submit an application to referee with the MWFRA
  5. Register to referee and pay the registration, uniform and course costs through PlayFootball;
  6. Attend the two in-person sessions to complete your course.

During the season we expect that you will:

  1. Make yourself available on our appointments system, Dribl, on a weekly basis;
  2. Referee at least 1-2 sessions per week (night game, Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon). You will need to be available on Saturday and Sunday mornings in order to receive centre referee appointments. Night games and Saturday/Sunday afternoons you will be appointed as Assistant Referee;
  3. Undertake as many games as an Assistant Referee as possible to learn from the senior centre referees;
  4. Attend a training session at least once per month – either a technical session at a General Meeting or a training session at Cromer Park.

Steps to Apply

Step 1: Obtain the Football Australia Online Laws of the Game Certificate

Football Australia delivers all referee training courses and accreditations through etrainu. To access etrainu, you must first register as a Football NSW (FNSW) Learner via PlayFootball.

  1. Complete the Learner (NSW) registration using the provided link and create a NEW Account

    • You must use an email address that has not previously been used on PlayFootball.

  2. For applicants under 18 years of age:

    • When prompted about a Working with Children Check, select No, then use the drop down box to indicate “Age Exemption”.

    • In the reason field, enter: “U18 referee” followed by your date of birth.

  3. For applicants over 18 years of age, you must provide an employee Working with Children Check number before your application can be accepted.

  4. Contact PlayFootball and request that they:

    • Approve your registration (this is not automatic), and

    • Onboard you to etrainu.

  5. Once approved, you will receive an email from PlayFootball with instructions on how to log in to etrainu.

  6. Log in to etrainu and select “Learner (Football Account)”.

    • If you experience any login issues or error messages, please contact PlayFootball, etrainu and Sigrid Mulherin ([email protected]) as soon as possible.

  7. After logging in:

    • Confirm that the learner details displayed are correct.

    • Scroll to “Learning Tailored for You” and select Referees.

    • Click View Courses under the Referees section.

    • Select Enrol for Laws of the Game.

  8. Complete the online Laws of the Game (LOTG) course.

 

Step 2. Complete the Junior Match Official Online Course on etrainu – This part of the course will cost $33.00.

 

Step 3. Complete the MWFRA Junior Referee Application 

You must have completed Step 1 and 2. The Referee Application can be found here: Junior Referee Application.

Step 4. Register for the two compulsory MWFRA in-person sessions. 

 

Step 5. Register with the MWFRA – further information on how to complete this step will be sent once your application has been reviewed.

Step 6. Attend the 2 in-person training sessions that you registered for in Step 4. You must have completed the online modules prior to attending the in-person sessions.

 

FAQs

How much information should be included in the application?

The purpose of the application is to learn about your motivations for applying, your availability, and to give you the opportunity to consider why you would like to referee. Therefore, we only require short (10-20 word) answers to the questions. If we require more information we will contact you separately.

How do I pay the course fee?

The Junior Match Official Online course fee ($33.00 ) must be paid when you are registering for the  course on etrainu. Additional costs for 2026 registration and your uniform will be applicable when registering with the MWFRA on PlayFootball. Registration and Uniform costs in 2025 were $120.00

The course fee is too expensive. Is it possible to pay later?

The MWFRA registration fee includes the MWFRA uniform (2 shirts, shorts, socks), equipment (whistle, flag, notebook, cards and lanyard) and FFA/FNSW registration fees. We do not aim to profit from these and feel they are competitively priced. As such, we are unable to offer discounts or options to pay later. It is not possible to use an Active Kids Voucher for this registration.

How much will I get paid?

As a guide, the match fees from 2025 are here. Please note that they are subject to change each year.

I am unable to attend the courses for juniors/seniors. Can I attend a team referee’s course?

As our juniors and seniors’ courses include different content to team referees and teaching methodologies, we are unable to offer the team referee’s course to junior and senior appointable referees.

I am unable to attend the practical session. Can I do the practical session at another time?

If you cannot attend one of the two in-person sessions, please contact [email protected] to organise to attend one of the other sessions. You must attend two in person (one theory and one practical) sessions to complete your training.

What is your cancellation policy?

We follow the FFA’s cancellation policy, available on page 11 of the FFA’s AODS. Please contact us ASAP if you need to withdraw from a course.

Further Questions?

Please don’t hesitate to contact Robert Iacono by emailing [email protected] or Sigrid Mulherin at [email protected] with any questions about becoming a referee with the MWFRA.