Two former Team GB handball stars are now carving out new careers in refereeing... (Ed. 45)

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"I like winning. That's what drives me on. It's actually winning that keeps me going."

Walter Smith

EDITION 45 - WINTER 2010-11

Hands on

Brian Bartlett

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Allan Stokes

Two former Team GB handball stars are now carving out new careers in refereeing...

Brian Bartlett set out in 2006 with ambitions to play for Great Britain at handball in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Remarkably, he could end up refereeing at the Games instead. There are not many sports where players gravitate towards refereeing but Bartlett, 24, and fellow-Scot Alan Stokes are being fast-tracked towards 2012.

Both spent three-and-a-half years in Denmark with the Great Britain squad but, when the funding cuts were announced in 2009, found themselves out of the programme.

It was a devastating blow but both have recovered to try a different path towards the Olympics and the progress made has been more than encouraging.

Bartlett, who started out with Tryst 77 and still plays in the Scottish League, admits it has been a difficult journey.

"The last thing on our minds after being cut from the squad was to take up refereeing," he admits.

"We both thought about coaching and Alan coaches a team in Edinburgh from kids upwards and is still pursuing that side of the game.

"We both knew we wanted to put something back into the sport and refereeing gave us the chance to do that.

"We were in the original squad and spent three-and-a-half years in Denmark.

"We went from playing in the Danish Third Division and losing by 20 goals every week to playing in the Second Division and winning matches.

"It was a big blow when the funding was cut and now there are only two Scots in the men's squad, Chris Mohr who was born in Germany and Dan McMillan who is from the south of England."

Bartlett now has a new respect for referees and is enjoying his new part-time career, even if it was not the one he originally envisaged.

"It's been very tough as it was a steep learning curve," he points out, "We went from refereeing games in the Scottish League to refereeing a women's international tournament in Liverpool with Great Britain, Portugal, Switzerland and Iceland.

"We were given matches that did not involve GB to do and the feedback we received was very positive.

"The next step was to go over to Denmark to referee and we took charge of matches in the women's first division and in the men's second division. Again, the feedback was very good.

"We then went to Switzerland in December for a global refereeing training programme conducted by the International Handball Federation.

"There were referees from Switzerland, Portugal, Greece and the [DR] Congo and we took some Swiss League matches.

"There was physical testing, rules of the game testing and video testing and we were told we did very well.

"I think they were expecting referees from Scotland to be terrible as there is no culture for the game here and I think they were surprised.

"This was to decide whether they would continue funding us through to 2012 and they have decided to continue which is great for us.

"I think the next move is to go to Denmark in February to referee more matches and then it would be a case of getting over there for one weekend every month.

"It is a lot of commitment but we need to get the badges and qualifications to allow us to officiate at London 2012."

Being a former player has undoubtedly helped Bartlett make such rapid progress.

"I think that has been the major strength for us," he continues, "We know the game so well and the players respect that.

"It means we can let the game flow when necessary and we also know when players are being a bit theatrical.

"I always said I'd never be a referee as it's a thankless task but I'm actually enjoying it.

"Handball referees to not get the same level of abuse that football referees have and there is an etiquette in the sport that respects officials.

"I couldn't go back to playing at GB level now. Once you've come out of it, you get settled back home and get a bit of stability in your life and it would be difficult to go back.

"There's no security especially with the GB squad as there is a threat hanging over the future seemingly every weekend."

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