Young ref back from 'incredible' China experience

A young football referee who has just returned from officiating at a world schools tournament in China has said it was a "scary" but also "incredible" experience.

Callum Oram, 18, has been refereeing for three years and hopes to make it his full time career.

He spent 11 days working at the International School Sport Federation Football World Cup in Suzhou and made friends with other young referees from around the world.

The Telford College student said he believed the tournament would be a valuable learning experience and would help him move ahead in the game.

Oram said he became interested in refereeing when he was 15 years old.

"I was looking for a job and obviously no-one employs 15-year-olds," he said, but realised this could be a chance to find work in football.

The Wolves fan said he told himself: "Let's take it up, see where it takes me.

"And very slowly, I started to love it and that just grew into a bit of a career for me."

He said he wanted to go as far as he could as a referee and when the chance came to go to China, he thought: "Why not?"

But he said: "I didn't realize how big it was at the time."

The event was viewed by thousands of people online and across China, but Oram said his flight there was one of the most scary moments.

He said he was "very nervous" going through security by himself for the first time.

While in China, he refereed two matches and was the fourth official or assistant referee for another 10.

He said it really hit him when he got there that "this is huge".

All the young referees stayed in the same hotel and he now has friends from across the globe, with whom he plans to remain in contact.

Oram returned to the UK on Monday and has returned to his policing course at Telford College.

He said the experience in China had helped him grow both personally and professionally.

He also said the food in China was "probably the best food I've ever had".

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