Last week I notified of training to be held tomorrow night, this will be held between 7pm – 8pm and is to be held through MS Teams.

The access details are found below or alternatively you can follow the instructions under the joining data:

Microsoft Teams meeting – Wednesday 5 July @ 7pm for 1 hour

Join on your computer, mobile app or room device

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 339 360 022 681
Passcode: WSotHp

Download Teams | Join on the web

Alternate Joining Instructions – If you have any issues please send your email address and name using the form below and I can send the calendar invite out direct to you on email.

We will also record the session to share following the meeting

NB: Names and Emails will only be used for the purpose of sending the invite

Applications are now open to join the Development Squad (DS) for the 2023/24 season!

Deadline for application is 30th July 2023.

What is the Development Squad

The Development Squad is there to help you improve your refereeing skills and to try to make you the best referee possible.

Once part of the Development Squad (DS) we would find a suitable coach that will work with you with the aim to develop your skills and fitness, putting the processes in place to enable you to implement what has been discussed both in-games and through regular meetings.

Applications are welcomed from any level of referee at any stage of their refereeing career.

What is Required?

The first part is a willingness to learn, improve and accept constructive feedback – the purpose of the DS is as the name says – Develop you into the best version of you when refereeing.

Notes and Videos will be taken of your games which will be reviewed both individually with your coach as well as with the wider development squad, these meetings are ran approximately every 6 weeks throughout the season.

What will you get?

As mentioned above each referee will have a coach offering feedback, development and fitness tips to grow into the best version of you. Strengths and weaknesses will be analysed with an actionable plan drawn up to build on these with progress tracked from game to game.

Referee performance will be discussed and presented in an open forum with other referees/coaches of the DS during the meetings.

How do I apply?

To apply you can either:

Send an email to Neil Reid-Warrilow – neil@pegasus-arenas.co.uk

Please include a short letter as to why you think you may be suitable for the DS, briefly outlining your experience to date, your ambitions, your strengths as a referee and your weaknesses.

Alternatively you can complete the form below which will be sent to Neil Reid-Warrilow:

ONLINE TRAINING SESSION – 5 JULY

Save the Date – Wednesday 5 July 2023

Neil Chivers will be running an online training session covering off the new Tackle Height coming into effect from July 2023 for the community game.

We are encouraging as many of our members as possible to attend the session, but it will also be recorded for those unable to attend either through work, holiday etc.

We will send the joining instructions / invite out closer to the time.

I have attached some information below to assist as taken from the England Rugby Tackle Hub:

Tackle Height Law Application Guidelines

Tackle Height Sanction Framework

If you have any questions prior to the session please drop in the form below and I can feed these to Neil / John in preparation.

Hope you are all enjoying the glorious weather and much needed rest, maybe squeezing in a few fixtures here and there. If you are on the lookout for appointments all you need to do is set your availability on ‘WTR’ and our Summer Fixtures Sec will appoint.

Tackle Height – Society Training

In May I dropped out a post looking for volunteers to attend the RFU Referee Tackle Height webinar, two of our members stepped forward in John Kelly & Neil Reid-Warrilow. These will be attending a series of webinars to cover how the new tackle height should be delivered out to society members. Once we have this information we will formulate a plan of action for delivery.

In the meantime please feel free to check the England Rugby Tackle Height page or follow RFU Refs on Facebook to see updates / quizzes etc

Important Notice – Safeguarding

This is an important notice regarding safeguarding.

The RFU have a new policy which means that all our active members (active is not just referees, but all members who attend games for the Society such as watchers, coaches etc) MUST complete the RFU Safeguarding Course before an application is made for a DBS. It is therefore important that you do the course especially if your DBS is due to expire during the 23/24 season.

How to Access / Attend the Safeguarding Course

Lewis Courtney has provided the following simple guide:

Log-in to your GMS account and go to ‘Find a Course’, you can then select ‘E-Learning: Introduction to Safeguarding’ and place it in your basket and book the course. The course is free. Once you have booked the course you should get an email sent with a link at the bottom of the confirmation to access the course. Please note this is an online course and does not require attendance in person.

Once you click on the link you will be taken to a slide show where you have to go through each slide taking notes as you go. Please pay attention as there is a quiz at the end which you need to pass. On average it takes 20-30 minutes to complete.

On completion of the course GMS will be updated under the ‘Player Welfare Qualification’ section. We are seeing that this takes up to 3 weeks to appear on GMS but once live you will be emailed a notification. You are unable to apply for a DBS check until this is registered so please allow plenty of time prior to application.

If you could email Rod Blaine once the confirmation has been received – rodjean.blaine@btinternet.com

Rod Blaine, Safeguarding Manager NMSRFR

Interested in Volunteering?

As we approach the new season we are on the lookout for volunteers to help support the society across a range of roles. We fully appreciate that we are all very busy with working, family, refereeing and the general throws of life but if could spare an hour here and there or an afternoon please complete the form below and we can have a chat about possible options. Volunteering roles could be:

• Social media manager for one of our pages
• YMO mentor – attend games to support our YMO program
• Watchers attending games to support our referee development program
• YMO Parent Mentor to help new parents navigate the world of YMO refereeing and share experiences
• Guest blogger
• Plus many more

As mentioned above if you are interested please complete the form below and we can have a chat.

Hope you are all having a great summer so far, the weather certainly helps brighten the mood.

A quick note on summer fixtures – if you can update your availability on WTR across the summer months and any fixtures that come up can be assigned based on available refs.

England Rugby Referee Society Members – Match Official Abuse 2022/23

We are writing to you to get your valuable feedback in relation to Match Official Abuse (MOA) within the game. Many of you kindly responded to a similar survey last season and this new survey will give us a greater understanding of ongoing trends in this area.

The RFU recognise there has once again been a real challenge with MOA in our game this season. We are seeking your help to allow us better to understand the ongoing situation and allow us to identify further measures we need to take to support you and your colleagues better.

There is no obligation for people to provide their name, however, should they wish to do so, to allow us to contact to discuss concerns, people will be able to at the end.

This questionnaire should only take 5-10 minutes and we would like to thank you in advance for your time.

Click here to complete the questionnaire

Help us, help you and your fellow referees.