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As I am new to the West Australian Rugby Union Referees Association (WARURA) I thought it would be good to keep a blog of how my experiences go through my first season with them.
Last night was my first chance to put faces to the names in the emails, it was a seminar for Advanced Referee Coaches and all ref coaches and L2 referees were invited.
The seminar was led by Andrew Cole, a former iRB Referee with 31 tests & the ARU's National Referee Coach, and Jamie McGregor, the ARU's Referee Development Officer.
It was a strange introduction to life in the West as the only person I knew was Jamie McGregor from my days as a NSW referee in Newcastle.
I was introduced to Julie, the Association's secretary, Brendan, El Presidente & Brett, Chairman of Coaching & Grading. Anyone that's been in a society for more than a season knows that these are the three people you want to be nice too.
The Seminar was very good, and Andrew Coles has kindly allowed me to replicate his presentation on RugbyRefs, bar a few bits (examples of top referees coaching reports), which I shall do later.
A pleasant surprise for me was to learn that Andrew Cole reads RugbyRefs.com, whilst I've been aware for a while that some high level officials and coaches lurk, it's nice to get good feedback from them on some of our articles. He was particularly pleased about the article on John Miner OAM.
A chat in the local bar afterwards about all things rugby related had me very happy to be part of the WARURA and looking forward to getting the season underway. I was made to feel very welcome and this for me was great.
A diet has been instigated, and training with the local club at least once a week has begun. I will also soon be running to work on the morning (about 7 Km). Current weight is about 96KG. I'll keep you posted about where it goes, hopefully down!
My first appointment has also come through, four games in the Moana Pacifika 7's. I've missed having 7's tournaments since being in Aus, so it will be nice to get out and be part of one, though it's the wrong side of the season for peak fitness, so will instead have to be used as a rust remover.
Last night was my first chance to put faces to the names in the emails, it was a seminar for Advanced Referee Coaches and all ref coaches and L2 referees were invited.
The seminar was led by Andrew Cole, a former iRB Referee with 31 tests & the ARU's National Referee Coach, and Jamie McGregor, the ARU's Referee Development Officer.
It was a strange introduction to life in the West as the only person I knew was Jamie McGregor from my days as a NSW referee in Newcastle.
I was introduced to Julie, the Association's secretary, Brendan, El Presidente & Brett, Chairman of Coaching & Grading. Anyone that's been in a society for more than a season knows that these are the three people you want to be nice too.
The Seminar was very good, and Andrew Coles has kindly allowed me to replicate his presentation on RugbyRefs, bar a few bits (examples of top referees coaching reports), which I shall do later.
A pleasant surprise for me was to learn that Andrew Cole reads RugbyRefs.com, whilst I've been aware for a while that some high level officials and coaches lurk, it's nice to get good feedback from them on some of our articles. He was particularly pleased about the article on John Miner OAM.
A chat in the local bar afterwards about all things rugby related had me very happy to be part of the WARURA and looking forward to getting the season underway. I was made to feel very welcome and this for me was great.
A diet has been instigated, and training with the local club at least once a week has begun. I will also soon be running to work on the morning (about 7 Km). Current weight is about 96KG. I'll keep you posted about where it goes, hopefully down!
My first appointment has also come through, four games in the Moana Pacifika 7's. I've missed having 7's tournaments since being in Aus, so it will be nice to get out and be part of one, though it's the wrong side of the season for peak fitness, so will instead have to be used as a rust remover.