Premier League official Scott Ledger recently delivered a Respect Campaign workshop led by Reds in the Community at Oakwell.

Pupils of Springwell Learning Community were invited along to participate in the one-off event, where they learned the key values associated with respect in football, as they explored the importance of the role of referees and assistant referees within the sport.

By officiating small-sided games, the participants gained an understanding of the challenges faced when it comes to refereeing and how to overcome these issues with respect and consideration.

Scott, who has officiated over 400 matches across England’s top four tiers, provided them with an insight into officiating at the highest level, as he showed the pupils video clips of incidents in the Premier League before he then gave first-hand accounts of his own experiences in an engaging question and answer session over in the East Stand.

After the short classroom session, the participants then took to the pitch themselves, as they put what they learned to the test, remaking scenarios seen in the clips in a full match environment by playing football and officiating the games with guidance from Scott and other Reds in the Community coaches.

As part of the day, the pupils also enjoyed a ground tour of Barnsley Football Club’s Oakwell Stadium, learning about the history and heritage of the club throughout the years.

The participants gained several benefits from the Respect Campaign workshop, as they acquired new skills regarding respect and officiating within football, including setting standards and values, which they could then go on and apply through sport and everyday life.

Speaking after the event, participants of the workshop, gave their thoughts on what was an exciting and enjoyable day for everyone involved.

One pupil from Springwell Learning Community said: “I enjoyed the day. My favourite part was playing football, but I also learnt a lot about refereeing. It’s been great to take part in the Respect Campaign because I found out that if you are refereeing and everyone is being nice, then you gain a lot more confidence.”

Another pupil added: “It’s been a fun day. I liked learning about the past and present of Barnsley Football Club as well as taking part in the football games and refereeing some of the matches. I would definitely recommend it to some of my friends.”