Lacey Chivers-Hickton is an aspiring referee coming from Wiltshire who is looking to make her way up the footballing pyramid.
She first found her passion for refereeing from her “stepdads dad,” who did “everything across the Wessex League”.
Starting with under 14s games, she enjoyed refereeing, first doing it just for “pocket money,” but then as she progressed up the age groups, she felt like this could be something she could do for a career.
Upon becoming part of the FA, she admits, “it definitely requires a lot of training,” but she couldn’t recommend it more to other young girls around the country.
She currently officiates both “men and women,” and she wants to progress in both groups, but the women’s game is her preferred career path.
“Reach out, if you ask for the support you aren’t to get it and if you don’t get it, you are going to be stuck”
When asked about some of the toughest aspects of refereeing, the expected answer would be some of the abuse a typical referee gets but instead its “the fitness you need to maintain.”
Not to say abuse isn’t an aspect, as she admitted “there’s been times people have gone over the top but it’s all about managing that.”
When asked about the difference between men and women, she said “As a female referee I find the men talk to me in a much more respectful way than the women do.”
However, she does admit, “the men don’t stop talking”.
“I know a lot of people look at the women’s game and think it’s slow which is true, but its more because they play it out from the back.”
The 17-year-old was very open about admitting that she thinks “as a woman I’ve had a better opportunity because there’s so little of us.”
“The Wiltshire County FA hold female only ref courses,” which is something that has progressed massively over the last five years.
However, even though the programs have progressed hugely, she still wants to do more for the community and sports around her.
“I’m creating a program for referees alongside 3 other people and the Wiltshire FA youth council, providing them some extra support that they don’t get from the county.”
If she could give one piece of advice to young referees, it would be that, “you’ve got to be confident, or you will fall out of love with it.”
