Fuel isn’t the only shortage causing us problems at the moment, we’re also desperately short of referees!
Societies are struggling to cover lots of fixtures on a Saturday and Sunday, so I’m approaching you to help us recruit more refs into the game. It can be a flexible arrangement alongside playing/coaching/teaching with referees able to set their own availability and travel time preferences. For example if you can only do 1 game a month and only want to travel up to 30 mins from your house, or even just at your own club, that is perfectly fine, and will still go a long way to helping the game!!
Mixing refereeing with playing/coaching/teaching is also a great way to see the game from a different perspective, and can really help with personal development. Not to mention the fact that you’re really helping players in the game by facilitating their match. Games can’t happen without a ref!
If you, or someone you know, would be interested in completing the England Rugby Refereeing Award, we have 2 courses coming up in Essex. One at Campion School on Saturday 9th October, and one at Colchester RFC on Sunday 31st October 2021.
We’ve changed the format of the course now, so face-to-face day 1 includes the safety elements of refereeing with all the basics to get you started. After day 1 we actively encourage you to get out and referee games, your local referee society can help you with this, as well as supporting your development (if you live in North Essex then I am the training officer for Suffolk & North Essex refs so I’ll be your point of contact). Following day 1 there will be 4 online learning sessions (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr) were we’ll introduce further learning topics as well as discussing your experiences from your practical refereeing. Then we bring it all together at the end of the season for the 2nd face-to-face day where we do the final sign-off. Our new format gives new referees even more support, as well as the opportunity to learn alongside gaining practical experience out in the field officiating matches during the season.
To make it even better Essex CB have agreed to fund places on the course. So if you sign up to the course, you can claim the cost back by emailing ivor_smith@outlook.com.
Here are the booking links;
Campion School – Saturday 9th October – bit.ly/ERRACampion
Colchester RFC – Sunday 31st October – bit.ly/ERRA-Colchester
Thank you for taking the time to read this, if you have any questions please feel free to get in touch with Essex County RFU (CB) <MattRozier@RFU.com>
Best wishes,
Matt Rozier
England Rugby Coach Developer