Assessment of Referees in Terms of Building a Positive Climate and Responsiveness to the Health, Emotional, and Social Needs of Rugby Players in Competitive Children Sport.

One of the key elements of effective sports programs that contribute to a child's sense of joy and satisfaction in participating in sports is contact with an adult who builds a caring climate deliberately and intentionally. Referees play a special role in providing positive experiences for young athletes. The main aim of this study was to assess the quality of referee-player interactions in terms of building a positive climate during the game and the referee's responsiveness to the health, emotional, social, and cognitive needs of young rugby players aged 6-12 years. The research was conducted among 23 referees refereeing children's rugby matches in Poland. The structure observation method and The Referee-Players' Interaction Assessment Scoring System tool were used in the study. Each referee was observed twice. The referee's verbal and non-verbal communication was recorded using a GoPro Hero 8 camera and an Ejeas Fbim wireless intercom system. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to examine differences between referees' ratings on two dimensions. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed to test the significance of differences in the mean scores of referees between groups divided by experience. The referees, in both dimensions ( and ), scored on a 7-point scale, were rated at an average level of 3.22 (SD = 1.65) and 4.39 (SD = 1.67), respectively, with the dimension rating being statistically significantly higher than the rating. The results showed that referee experience was not a determinant of the rating of the quality of referee-players' interactions in both dimensions. From these studies, it was concluded that there is a need to complement the existing training programs for referees with the contents from the field of pedagogy and developmental psychology. This will help them build a positive climate during the game and show how to respond to children's health, cognitive, emotional, and social needs. Furthermore, developing a referee's pedagogical skills can improve their relationship with players, which can ultimately translate into a greater sense of job satisfaction. The formulated practical implications can also be transposed to other team sports.