In the past two weeks, I carried out a profile of two of the major refereeing elements in the local waterpolo scene, namely Mario Dalli and Peter Balzan.
Today I am going to carry out a similar profile on another top local referee, Ivan Sciriha.
Ivan hit the scene a couple of years ago and quickly established himself with positive performances week after week.
Consequently he obtained the international LEN badge so that he could experience games outside our shores. After a brief spell away from the game, due to work pressures, Ivan returned on the catwalk last season and showed that he did not lose his refereeing touch.
In my opinion, Ivan has got loads to offer given his relatively young age and personality and luck (as referees can generally agree with me that apart from potential and talent, much depends on luck in being in the right place, at the right time and at the right moment) can play a big deal in outlining his future in the international scene.
Name: Ivan Sciriha
Place of Residence: Qawra (St.Paul’s Bay)
Date of Birth: 19th October 1967
Age: 37
Height: 6’ 2”
Weight: 91Kg
Marital status: Married
No. of children: One (Martine)
Languages spoken: English and Italian
Professional occupation: Technician (Information Technology) with AirMalta
Hobbies: Anything having to do with computers
Favourite food: Indian food and Pasta
Favourite sports to watch other than waterpolo: Football
Referee since: 1998
First game ever refereed: U/17 match in 1998 – but cannot remember the teams.
National league referee since: 1999
First Top Division game ever refereed: San Giljan vs. Marsascala (Knock Out - 1999)
FINA/LEN referee since: LEN referee since 2000
Career highlights: COMEN Cup Final 1999 in Kranj, Slovenia; Semi-Final – European Junior Championships in Malta 2004; Champions Cup round robin ties in Novaky, Marseilles, HerzegNovi, Netanyaha and Budapest.
What is your background in waterpolo? Used to play waterpolo with M’scala, Exiles and Marsaxlokk
Why did you decide to become a referee? I always liked refereeing. In fact I was also a football referee way back in 1987
Training regime: Controlling friendly games as much as possible and concentration before the game.
How difficult is it to juggle a refereeing career with a professional working career? Very difficult especially when one works odd hours.
What for you is the toughest part of refereeing? Waterpolo is described as one of the toughest games for referees. It is not easy to control games when you only see the top part of the players and when we have strict instructions not to whistle on assumptions but on what we actually see.
What is the most enjoyable part? After the game when the delegate tells you that you did a good job and puts forwad no complaints.
What do you hate about refereeing? Unconstructive criticism
Influential people in your sports career: My father (late) as all that I have obtained in sports is definitely owed to him.
What type of person (character-wise) makes a good referee? One with a solid character and able to decide in a split of a second without hesitation.
Career/ best moment in waterpolo: COMEN Cup Final In Kranj Triglav-YUG 1999 and placing first in the LEN exam for international Referee in Novaky - 2000
What advice would you offer to young people who want to reach the top level as a referee? Sacrifice is the keyword. Refereeing is not an easy task but at the end is very rewarding on a personal level especially when controlling games in the international scene.
Further comments: Please allow me to thank you for taking the initiative of doing this questionnaire for the better development of the referees.
Something which I honestly see as lacking and essential in Malta is a National Referees Association. Other countries have already set it up and it has been running for ages. I do not know why in Malta we are not capable of setting it up. I showed my willingness to help in this setup various times with referees from other Associations, but strangely enough the ball has not been set rolling yet. This could be beneficial for all Referees Associations, as the case might have been last summer when the waterpolo referees ended up victims of various acts of vandalism on their personal cars.
Columnist Note: I can vouch that myself and Ivan have talked many times about the eventual creation of a National Referees’ Association encompassing various referees from various sport disciplines. To be honest, such talk has also been done with other referees both from within the waterpolo field and also the football field.
A number of seasoned and dedicated referees have shown enthusiasm for the idea. After all, big countries like the US have a national sports officials organization named NASO.
The problem lies in the fact that the start is always a difficult hurdle. Once the season is in full swing, referees will not have much time in their hands given their weekly refereeing schedules which they must juggle with their full time job, apart from the fact that different sport disciplines have different criteria (e.g. the unfortunate ban imposed once again on football referees to make their voice heard apart from official organs within the MFA) and so, initially, it might be difficult to amalgamate a common policy.
On concluding, I fully concur with Ivan that a national referees’ organization is et up in the near future.
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