2013 Annual Report v1 | Page 12

12 ETA Annual Report Referees (Report) 2013 was another big year for referee development in England and we are hoping that 2014 will be even bigger. Courses There has been considerable interest from all over the country, requesting courses to be run (both Level 1 and Level 2). England has now put a Referee course co-ordinator in place to help facilitate individual request. The graph below shows figures from Level 1 courses ran, totalling 100 new referees. ETA Referee Database There are currently approximately 428 names on the referee database; however we are still trying to ascertain who our “active” referees are. This report has been a brief overview of the work that has been done on the referee side in 2013 and the budget and proposal we submitted detail where our major project lies for 2014. Referee Coaches A massive thank you needs to be made to the Touch Europe Referee Commission for supporting England Touch in all ETA events that we hosted this year. England Touch had the pleasure of hosting: Matthew Reid, Kevin Hobbs and Chris Wheeler from the Touch Europe Referee Commission at our events. Investment The investment that England Touch and England Touch Referees made towards the Referee coaches has been invaluable to referees and has helped their development. This investment needs to be committed again for 2014 to really show to all England referees of all skill levels, that we are serious about their development as referees. Only through this investment we will see the game and players grow. European Championships 2014 England Touch referees are looking to implement minimum attendance at England events and minimum fitness requirements to be considered for selection for the Euro’s as well as being eligible for subsidy. Presenters England hosted a Referee Recruitment and Retention Course (RRRC) at the beginning of 2013 with 7 England referees in attendance. Following successful attendance and completion of the course, England now additionally have: 5 x L1 Course presenters and L1 Referee coaches 2 x L2 Course presenters and L1 Referee coaches England has been in discussions with the Touch Europe Referee Commission to host 2 further RRRC courses in 2014. This will grow our network of referee course presenters and help to spread the workload. Referee Upgrades - In 2013, England had: ? 2 referees upgraded to Level 3 ? 3 referees upgraded to Level 2 ? 100 referees undertake a Level 1 course (not all have been assessed yet) “ Shelley Grace Quoted ” England Touch Association