3.05.2010

Football West's RESPECT campaign has been launched for 2010 with a resource kit sent to all registered junior teams in Football West competitions.

The kit includes a RESPECT booklet, RESPECT Code of Conduct poster, RESPECT "Captain's" armband, and RESPECT player cards featuring the captain's from the 12 State League Premier Division clubs.

Almost 10,000 participants will take part in the campaign, with over 630 teams receiving the resource kits.

Following a plea from grassroots football to tackle elements of unacceptable behaviour in football, the campaign has been launched aiming for everyone associated with the sport to respect the referees, players and the game.

RESPECT aims to tackle the need for all members of our football family to have a better understanding of each other's role, which will help reduce the drop-out rate of referees from football due to abuse.

An English FA study found that 98% of referees are verbally abused and a similar number applies to games here in Western Australia.

The campaign wants to achieve zero tolerance for assaults on referees, an improvement in on-field player discipline, ensure there are enough referees for demand and an improvement in the conduct of coaches towards referees to name a few.

RESPECT will be a continued campaign and not a one-off initiative.

Football West Referee Development Manager Eddie Lennie is thrilled with the progress the campaign has made.

"I am delighted that we have released the next phase of the RESPECT campaign for season 2010," he said.

"We are making steady progress in the education of all participants in the need for RESPECT in our game so that we all enjoy a safe, fair and most importantly, enjoyable game of football."

The initiative is proudly supported by the Department of Sport and Recreation, Allflags and JJAB Sportswear.