Foggy-Balla
Player or Coach
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2014
- Messages
- 27
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Hello all. New member here, and in the absence of a new boys' section of the board thought I would stick something here as I'm going up through the age groups with my lad who is currently a U9.
I am Matthew, living in the SE with my U9 and his Mother, a Kiwi who grew up in an Ice Hockey playing family so who had no real interest in Rugby until she moved to Europe. We met through London Irish (she had got friendly with an expat in NZ who supported Irish and recommended as OH has an Irish background she check the Club out) where we are now all three season ticket holders. My second side is Munster as that's where my mother's family is from.
International-wise I have a big dilemma when it's an England/Ireland match! When still footloose & fancy free I used to follow the IRB 7s series around, and still find that the most satisfying to watch after Irish.
I played Mini Rugby from U7 to U12, in the latter years combining it with School XVs. From 13 on it was School Rugby, then I played two or three games for my first Club's senior side before going to Sandhurst & then played a bit at Squadron & Regimental level in the Army (& later TA). My final side was in Nottinghamshire, but I had to retire from all but Touch & Sevens as I have a permanently unstable shoulder after a nasty bobsleigh accident in the mob.
I did ELRA about four or five years ago, and for a time was an Oxfordshire Society member but couldn't put enough into refereeing because I was constantly on the move for work and also lost a lot of confidence after a Sevens tournament when I just couldn't make myself look like an authority figure.
Our lad was ready to play last year, so I signed him up and volunteered to coach. When it was heard I had passed the ELRA I was even more welcome; my former Society ref had me down as some sort of Demi-God despite my protestations I'd done nothing to speak of.
Have now found I prefer the refereeing to the coaching, and get a great deal of satisfaction from it. I like to keep a really flowing game going and only whistle as a last resort. My biggest critics are my lad and one of our parents, everyone else says I make a decent fist of it.
Loves:
Hates:
Anyway, bit of an essay. Glad to be here and glad to have already had a nice welcome on another thread...
I am Matthew, living in the SE with my U9 and his Mother, a Kiwi who grew up in an Ice Hockey playing family so who had no real interest in Rugby until she moved to Europe. We met through London Irish (she had got friendly with an expat in NZ who supported Irish and recommended as OH has an Irish background she check the Club out) where we are now all three season ticket holders. My second side is Munster as that's where my mother's family is from.
International-wise I have a big dilemma when it's an England/Ireland match! When still footloose & fancy free I used to follow the IRB 7s series around, and still find that the most satisfying to watch after Irish.
I played Mini Rugby from U7 to U12, in the latter years combining it with School XVs. From 13 on it was School Rugby, then I played two or three games for my first Club's senior side before going to Sandhurst & then played a bit at Squadron & Regimental level in the Army (& later TA). My final side was in Nottinghamshire, but I had to retire from all but Touch & Sevens as I have a permanently unstable shoulder after a nasty bobsleigh accident in the mob.
I did ELRA about four or five years ago, and for a time was an Oxfordshire Society member but couldn't put enough into refereeing because I was constantly on the move for work and also lost a lot of confidence after a Sevens tournament when I just couldn't make myself look like an authority figure.
Our lad was ready to play last year, so I signed him up and volunteered to coach. When it was heard I had passed the ELRA I was even more welcome; my former Society ref had me down as some sort of Demi-God despite my protestations I'd done nothing to speak of.
Have now found I prefer the refereeing to the coaching, and get a great deal of satisfaction from it. I like to keep a really flowing game going and only whistle as a last resort. My biggest critics are my lad and one of our parents, everyone else says I make a decent fist of it.
Loves:
- Giving the kids a bit of theatre before the match with coin toss, choosing to start or ends & the like.
- Seeing 300-odd children of all shapes and sizes at our Club smiling away on a Sunday morning enjoying a sport that has been with me as long as I can remember.
- Learning more about the sport myself, and passing that on during training & matches.
Hates:
- Parents who think the Club is about dropping the kids & going rather than being part of it and coming up to the Clubhouse afterwards for a drink, a bite & a chat.
- People who don't get the Rugby ethos that a referee may be wrong, but out there in the middle he's right. Sadly this includes children...
- Clubs who make up their own variations of the existing NRoP variations & confuse the bejabers out of oppo players and coaches alike.
Anyway, bit of an essay. Glad to be here and glad to have already had a nice welcome on another thread...