Step four referee Cain Collins has endured a gruelling two years to get back to officiating after suffering a torn meniscus in a “freak accident.”
The local-born referee spoke to Parklife Sport about the injury and his time out of the sport, stating, “I was asleep on the sofa and rolled over and basically tore my meniscus. I think I’d gone through a period of doing too much; it kind of just built up, and it was an accident waiting to happen. Before I got injured, refereeing was a bit hard for me; I was just sort of going out there for the sake of it. Trying to get motivation for it was really hard, and I think getting injured actually let me take a step back and find enjoyment again. Now, two years after getting injured, I’m buzzing to be back and really enjoying it again.”
Collins now officiates in the Hellenic and Western Leagues, step four of the non-league pyramid, but prior to his injury he had featured at an even higher level. He spoke on what his weekly routine looks like ahead of a matchday.
“I am effectively a box-to-box midfielder; I’m not refereeing now until the weekend, so this week I had a game on Saturday, which meant Sunday was about recovery, sitting on the exercise bike and just trying to refresh myself. Then on Monday, I went out and did an interval session to get my legs going again. I’ve spent some time in the gym this week doing some lower body stuff to get that strength back into my legs. Coming towards the end of the week, it’s more matchday-related sessions, so sprinting and dynamic movement, some stretches, and match replication stuff.
For me, turning up on a Saturday, if I haven’t done the stuff right in the week before, then I’m not mentally or physically prepared for the match.”
VAR is almost always a topic of debate amongst football fans, since its introduction to the English game in 2019. Collins shared his thoughts on the extra help that higher-level officials receive during games.
“Personally, I think VAR is great for the pro game because people want the right decisions. However, it’s a lot harder down here on a Saturday afternoon because, for example, when they’re bringing in all these new rules about time-wasting and offsides, in terms of when you put the flag up and stuff like that. We don’t have any communication devices at this level, let alone VAR; it’s just a nod or a shake of the head from the linesperson to the referee. However, as much as it’s easier to communicate and get the right decisions the higher up the levels you go, there’s a lot more attention and scrutiny on you.”
