Huntly referee Mike Ritchie flew the flag for Scotland after representing his country at the six-a-side World Cup in Germany.
The 63-year-old, who refereed SPL games earlier in his officiating career, has just returned from Emmen, after officiating at the tournament which ran from June 2-11.
Ritchie was thrilled to be asked by Leisure Leagues, and joked the decision to accept the invitation was an easy one.
He said: “I started refereeing six-a-side games locally last year and we’ve had two small seasons, which have been 14 weeks and 12 weeks.
“The games are played at the all-weather pitch behind the school in Huntly.
“I’ve refereed their local leagues and got a phone call from them asking if I’d like to go to Essen in Germany to do their World Cup.
“It wasn’t a hard decision to make.”
Kazakhstan crowned World Cup winners
The tournament drew thousands of spectators and the representation of referees was as global as the competition itself.
Ritchie said: “There were 14 referees out there and I was the only one from this country.
“There were three from Germany, two from Slovakia, two from Croatia, one from Moldova, one from Latvia in there – so there was a good mix of officials in the team.
“I was involved in a lot of games.
“You either refereed a game or were in the technical area, and we had at least four games every day.
“Kazakhstan won the tournament 2-1 on penalties after drawing 2-2 with Ukraine in the final.”
Six-a-side football is a fast paced alternative
Greg Allen, area manager for Leisure Leagues in Huntly, was delighted to see Ritchie rewarded with the call-up to the tournament.
He said: “We are incredibly proud of that we offer this to our match officials. We offer a pathway for aspiring referees to follow their dreams.”
The six-a-side format is quick and intense, as well as very different to the traditional 11-a-side game.
Ritchie said: “There are lots of different rules in six-a-side.
“The goalkeeper can only play the ball inside his area, but he can come out and play it once as a defensive tackle.
“It’s all kick-ins and you can score from every one. Every free-kick is direct, the goals are smaller and there are rolling substitutions during the game.
“There are some major differences – there are no sliding tackles, which is really good, and if a player backchats to a referee the free kick moves forward six yards every time.
“The penalty shoot-outs start on the halfway line and the player runs forward and tries to score.”
Appeal for new teams to join Huntly league
Ritchie hopes to get the chance to return to officiating local games for Leisure Leagues, and has urged teams in the north of Scotland to consider joining the division.
He said: “The league in Huntly hasn’t started again because there has been a fall-off in teams.
“We started with 12 teams last year, and finished the season with eight. (Then) this season we finished with six teams.
“I know Leisure Leagues are trying desperately to get teams involved from all areas, because the leagues only run in two places in Scotland – Huntly and Dumfries.
“There is the opportunity for players to be picked for the Scottish team which competed in the World Cup – the one which played earlier this month got to the last 32.”
Clubs interested in joining the league can find out more at www.leisureleagues.net
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