About us
The "Perception4perfection" website is produced by the "Perception and Performance" lab of the Faculty of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences at KU Leuven in cooperation with UEFA. Founder of this webapp is professor Werner Helsen.
The main purpose of this online training tool is to improve perception and decision-making skills of ((video) assistant) referees in professional football. During the online training, the participants are challenged via real match footage on the one hand and simulations from an in-game perspective on the other hand. This type of training provides complementary exposure to typical match incidents in addition to on-field training exercises.
In a 2013 study published in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise, the researchers examined the extent to which this online training transfers to the field. They found that the decision-making accuracy of Belgian assistant referees who completed 4 web-based training sessions of 60 incidents each improved by 23.3% for on-field incidents.
We would like to show you the scientific background and functioning of the Perception4perfection web application via this public website.
Get to know the brain behind Perception4Perfection!
Vision
To become the european/global reference in referee development, empowering match officials through innovative, evidence-based training solutions that enhance perception, decision-making, and performance on and off the field.
Mission
To support referees, assistant referees, VARs, and referee organisations by providing accessible, scientifically grounded training tools that develop perceptual-cognitive skills, improve decision-making, and promote continuous learning through technology, innovation, and collaboration.
Team
Prof. Werner Helsen
Full professor Performance Science in Sports @KU Leuven
Sports Scientist & Training Expert @UEFA
Prof Mark Williams
BSc (Hons), Ph.D., C.Psychol, C.Sci., FBPS, FECSS, FBASES, FNAK
Professor and Chair
Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation
University of Utah, USA
Prof Johan Wagemans
Full Professor
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
Brain and Cognition Research Unit
Belgium
Prof Daniel Memmert
DFG Section Psychology/ Computer Science, Frontier (Excellence-Cluster of the DFG), BISP, DAAD, ERASMUS, RISE; EXIST Industry (e.g., BASF, SAP, MLP, Wild), Sport Companies (DFB, DTTB, Fußball-Bundesliga)
Prof. Janet Starkes
BA (Hons), M.Sc., Ph.D., FNAK, FSCAPPS, NASPSPA Distinguished Scholar,
Professor Emeritus,
Dept. of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Prof. Werner Helsen
Bachelor Marketing and International management
Perception4Perfection representative and master in business management student
gilles.deschaetzen@talent-mc.eu
MSc. Nico Claes
MSc. Educational Studies
Maciej Wierzbowski
Ph.D Gdansk University of Technology
Thibaud Nijssen
Education Expert
Carlos Albaladejo
Ph.D. Specialist in referees’ perceptual-cognitive skills and decision-making.
Department of Sport Sciences, Miguel Hernández University, Elche, Spain.
Active football referee for RFEF.
Milovan Ristic
Background
Web-based perception and decision-making training for Referees, Assistant Referees and Video Assistant Referees
Since 2000, the study of the performance improvement of both the physical and perceptual-cognitive skills of referees and assistant referees was a primary research topic in the "Perception and Performance" lab of the Faculty of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences at KU Leuven (Belgium). In recent years, intensive research was conducted to get a better understanding of the acquisition and fine-tuning of perceptual-cognitive skills in refereeing. Specifically, a number of new and unique training methods were produced. The objectives were to provide ((video)assistant) referees more exposure and experience in assessing match incidents that would, in turn, improve their decision-making accuracy during the game.
Therefore, an online training tool was developed for the various roles of match officials, such as referees, assistant referees (ARs), additional assistant referees (AARs), and video assistant referees (VARs).
Because all of these match officials have to make their own specific decisions, there are different types of incidents to assess in the online training tool. For the main referee, the emphasis is on foul versus no-foul incidents and the corresponding technical and disciplinary decisions. For the ARs, the focus is on offside versus no-offside situations. The Assistant Referees are exposed to situations where the ball crossed the goal line or not as well as to foul versus no-foul in the area they should cover. These incidents are also being used by the ARs. The Video Assistant Referees are challenged by typical split-screen situations in which they have to decide to intervene, or not (Check, VAR-only, On-field review).
Share with friends:
