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Referee Drinks
Due to the closure of the referees bar, we are having some drinks on Saturdy 19th November starting at 4.00pm. We have a limited amount of drinks left over from the bar. If you wish to stay for a BBQ tea please bring some food for the BBQ. Family Welcome. If you have forgotten the address, give me a call: 021 846 063.
The Waikato Rugby Referee Awards Evening was held on Sunday 04th September 2011 at the Boston Restaurant and Bar
The Managment Committee would like to thank everyone that attended, it was a great turn out and a great night!!
Award Winners as follows:
2011 Final Referees
§ Secondary School Final Referee 2011 – Damian Botherway
§ U19 Final Referee 2011 – Cameron Brown
§ U85kg Final Referee 2011 – Shawn Watson
§ U21 Final Referee 2011 – Shaun Healy
§ Division 3 Final Referee 2011 – Murray Rumbles
§ Division 2 Final Referee 2011 – Paul Dale
§ Division 1 Final Referee 2011 – Paul Head
§ Premier B Final Referee 2011 – Mitch Collins
§ Premier A Final Referee 2011 – Grant Stuart
NZRU L II Referee Coach Course Certificates 2010
§ Paul Jeffrey
§ Eddie Longman
NZRU L II Law Exam Certificates 2010
§ Philip Black
§ Lee Jeffrey
§ Lyle Walker
§ Grant Edwards
Service & Life Member Awards
§ 30 years Service Certificate – Graham Bowen
§ 50 years Service Certificate - Francis Charleton
§ 70 years Service & Life Member Certificates – Roy Gillies
WRRA Top 5 Awards
- Best 1st Year Referee 2011 – Barry Schrader
- Most Improved Referee 2011 – Cameron Brown
- Service to Refereeing 2011 – Jointly won by Dick Hewison & Graham Allen
- Presidents Choice Award 2011 – Eddie Longman
- WRRA Referee of the Year 2011 (Proudly Sponsored by AMI Insurance) - Grant Cotterell
Lee Jeffrey's Report on IRB Women's Elite Referee
Workshop & Dubai 7's 2010
In September this year I was lucky enough to be selected by the IRB to travel to Dubai for a Women’s Elite Referee Workshop along with five other female referees from around the world. Combined with the workshop was three days of refereeing 7’s at the Dubai Invitational 7’s tournament which runs alongside the Dubai IRB 7’s. This was an amazing opportunity and a chance to visit Dubai which was also exciting.
Arrival 30th November 2010
Travelling from Hamilton to Dubai was a 24hr trip with 17 hours of flying time. I was exhausted when I arrived but after a couple of hours sleep I felt a lot better. I arrived in Dubai at 5.20am and my first referee meeting was a tour of Dubai at 6pm and on this tour I meet up with New Zealander Scott Herbert. I also meet some of the other Invitational Tournament referees and Bernd Gabbei who is an IRB Referee Development Consultant and was running the conference.
Conference Day 1We had an 8am start and were taken to Dubai College for day 1 of our Women’s referee workshop. At the workshop we went through the IRB Officiating Sevens Rugby – level 2 course. We also spoke to some of the students about refereeing and how we became involved in rugby. At 4pm we were taken for a cruise on the Dubai Creek before then going to ‘The Sevens’ stadium (the stadium the Dubai 7’s are played at) for dinner, the tournament briefing and gear allocation.
Tournament Day 1
Day 1 ran from 10am to 9pm and during the day I refereed four games in the invitational competition and AR’d eight. This was my first experience running in the Dubai heat and I was amazed at how quickly my throat became dry. I was drinking at least two litres of water between each game.
Tournament Day 2
On day 2 the Women’s Invitational tournament started and the games ran from 9am to 9pm. I refereed three Women’s Invitational games, France v Brazil, France v Pink Ba-bas and Rugby Ecosse Feminin v Tuks Women’s Rugby and AR’d six games. My first game was on the No. 1 pitch in front of 30,000 people as it was played in the middle of the 1st day of the IRB tournament.
Tournament Day 3
Day 3 was another 12 hours day. I refereed two games and AR’d four, my first game was a Men’s Social Open semi-final and for my second game I was lucky enough to be given the Women’s Invitational final. The final was just before the men’s IRB 7’s semi-finals on the main pitch and was broadcast live. There were 45,000 people in the stand so it was extremely noisy and different than anything I had experienced in my refereeing career.
Conference Day 2
On our last day we completed the level two sevens course and as a group reviewed my final. We then went to the Dubai mall which has 1,200 shops, the world’s largest fish tank, an ice skating ring and an entertainment area. Bernd then organised us a trip up the Burj Khalifa tower in return for an IRB jersey signed by the female referees. The tower is the tallest in the world at 828 metres. I meet a lot of referees from all over the world at the tournament. When talking to referees from countries which do not have English as their first language they kept asking me to speak English and not Kiwi (apparently I talk too fast). Refereeing sevens for three days in a row was hard on the legs and I had to make sure I used the ice bath after every game and also got a rub down. Due to the very busy schedule of games and debriefs I had to survive on 4-5 hours sleep a night which I handled better than I thought I would.
Lee refereeing women's final
