Interview with promising football referee Sara Rimfält

Sara Rimfält just turned 18 years old and has already refereed in 3 years, as a district referee. During the year, she and another referee in Småland received an award for "Referee talent of the year 2021". We like Sara a little extra because she rocks an S1 Pro Spintso referee watch. We the temperature on Sara, now that the 2022 season is coming to an end and what she thinks about being a referee.

– Hello Sara. You're studying last year at the gymnasium, what are you studying?

– I study technology, at a high school in Jönköping, focus information and media technology. Explained a bit simply, you can say that I program websites.


– Cool! You are also a football referee, what divisions do you referee today?

– I am classified and have so far only completed step 1, but for educational purposes have the goal of completing step 2 this year and was off to the Gothia Cup in 2022. During the year, I refereed women's division 2 in the circle and also had an Elitettan, next highest league for women in Sweden, as an assistant and also some division 1 women. Then I also managed to get up to division 4 men also as an assistant. I have some time off due to school and don't have time to referee very much, right now, also getting my driver's license which gets priority.


– Elitettan as an 17-year-old Sara, that's big. How was it?

– My God, it was very exciting. There were greater demands, I felt, if you compare with, for example, women's division 1. In the elite division, the pace was much higher and the focus became much more on the small and fine details, during and after the match. The communication with the referee in the middle, who I had refereed with before, also improved and I brought some input from the training I had during the Gothia Cup. I really felt that "this is where I want to be more" and this is the level I want to reach. It's something I strive for and want to walk the line in the elite divisions more!


– Sara, let's briefly go through when you started refereeing, from the beginning. And why did you start refereeing football?

– I started refereeing when I was 13 years old, then as an association referee for the club I played football in. It was someone from Småland FF who came to our club and trained us. That person has been a referee higher up in the league system. I felt then and there that "my God, this is what I was interested in". Absolutely a lot thanks to the person and referee who held the training. It simply caught my interest. We had to take that course and I didn't think much before that it would be something for me. It took me maybe six months, then I was up and refereeing the 9-a-side matches myself. I told whoever was in charge of us referees in the local club that I wanted to go up and referee higher and above all older teams. It resulted in my mother finding the course for district referees at Jönköping's football referee club. My mother thought this was really something I liked to do and they as parents should help me out with this. She noticed that I was on the soccer field refereeing games all the time, every weekend. So after that she registered me for the next step, step 1 and as a district referee.


– You went to the district referee course when you were 15 years old. Is it true? How cool is that!

– Yes, the year I would have turned 15, I took the first course as a district referee. So really I was only 14 years old. Then and there the nervousness came. I sat on the course, by far the youngest of all, and my thoughts were spinning whether I will really be able to do this. I have a lot to thank my parents for the support I received then. Then I've had a lot of support from Jönköping's Football Referee Club, too, which I also want to take the opportunity to say thank you for. The reason I kept going was definitely all the support I had around me. I have set new goals all the time that I want to reach and that is also a driving force in me for continuing. 


– How was it to get to matches then? Sometimes by yourself I can think, but also in a team?

– In the beginning it was a lot by myself and I have driven a lot of mopeds around Jönköping. I have refereed a lot of different levels and ages. Among other things, I have refereed boys and girls who were then a little older than me. Here comes little Sara to suddenly command over them. But I thought, "No, now I've taken this course and have to take some shit also. I'll handle it". This is also where some support from my parents and the referees' club comes in, which I have benefited from, not least in that my parents have also given me some rides to the matches. I also went by train to certain places to be able to referee matches. The referee club has appointed me to some matches within Jönköping city and also in team matches where you can carpool, of course. I have resolved every obstacle that has come up in the way of being able to referee I think.


– You and another referee received the refereeing talent of the year in Smålands FF this year, for the year 2021. How did it feel?

– Unexpected. I received a paper to my home that I was nominated for it last December, but then thought that the other referee who was also nominated will get it instead of me. So I didn't think much of it at the time. Then came the news that we got the reward together and and I felt proud. I have performed well for my age but thought it was fun to share this award with someone I know. I have received praise from my local club Bankeryd as well, where they are proud to have a referee passed on from them.


– How are the thoughts with the refereeing going forward then? You have a lot of other things too with school and so on.

– In the short term, I want to be finished with the Step 2 training to be able to referee a little higher, there are some test matches and other things this autumn which will hopefully go well. I want to be fully 100% approved and now I am waiting for a notification that I have finished Step 2. Then a little further ahead I will of course graduate from the gymnasium and have started to plan a bit around that. Then I want to be assigned to a team as the circle referee and show the referee coaches in Småland who I am and Sara as a referee. I want to make a journey where I can grow as much as possible and gain confidence.


– You have passed these critical years where referees usually quit, after one or two years. Can you send some words to the referees who are thinking about quitting for various reasons.

– If you start to think it's tough and maybe think about starting to quit, sit down and check out our referees who are higher up. Check out elite referees, both boys and girls, and see if you can take something with you from those matches down to the level you are at. But it is also super important that you notify your referee club that morale is starting to wane. That you are honest about the fact that it is tough or starting to get boring or something else. That you seek support in this and can discuss it with someone in your referee club. Then that we who are referees notice other referees, that we talk to each other about this and push each other.


– You use our Spintso S1 Pro referee watch. How do you think it works?

– I think it works well. I like that you can see the speed change per kilometer and per half. That you increase or decrease in the second half, for example, that together with the result in the match is interesting to see sometimes. But yes, absolutely, I think it works well.


– Thank you for this Sara. Good luck with everything and you know where to find us at Spintso.