Chairman S End of Season Report
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 16 MAY 2017
CHAIRMAN’S END OF SEASON REPORT
Welcome to the 2016-17 AGM celebrating the Society 125th Anniversary, I would like to start by thanking everyone for the effort that has been put in during what has been a big change for the society during the season, we have now become a Limited Company which is a positive move to protect our society members especially the Officers. The working relationship between Bristol and G & D has continued which had positive results for the Federation (4 Referees, 1 Coach being invited for selection to the SW Group), the GRFU are still working closely with both societies (as with all rugby within the county) for the better of the game, a new sponsorship deal was achieved and thanks to all involved, and the rugby is still not over with the Lions Tour June/July.
The Society Plan still current and continues with projects/goals being reviewed as required when new or actioned have been completed, we are having an away day early June to review and plan for the coming season.
This past season with the change to incorporation the society was a completely new challenge for all involved, and we are still learning around the changes required.
The Federation working well with Bristol as I said early 3 G & D, 1 Bristol Ref`s, 1 Coach, 1 assessor being invited for selection to Group, all the rest of the Fed members have had some tough/interesting appointments with most getting good feed back from assessors/coach`s (hopefully those who are in the frame will be offered group games early into the season), 2 of our members were invited to join the AR Panel and have had a good year, Gradings/Appointments are looking to invite to those identified to join the Federation for the coming season during the closed season,
On the behalf of Society Members I’m sure they would like show an appreciation to all Officer, Committee Members, Assessors/Coaches, a special mention to P Lewis who stood down as the Society SADO and thanks to B McCrudden for taking over the position mid season, County Badge Examiners – Colin Edmunds, Peter Brunt, Barry Clark and anyone else who may have stepped in to help, External Exchange – Dave Meek, Video Man – Tony Wakelin, Merchandising – Andy Barnby, NE Exchange – those who entertained and Nick Palmer for hosting them, Chris White for his support off the Society in arranging Speakers working with Geoff Cove as Training Officer and the Uni Courses he overseas. Sunday Youth Appointments – Si Tyler, Mid-week Appointments – Tony Wakelin, Rodger Brennan for all his work during the season, Alex McDonald for stepping in to help Rodger and take over re-appointments, Geoff Cove for all the training sessions he arranged, not forgetting the rest of the Committee especially with all the changes that have happened during the season
We always looking for volunteers/assistants, to assist and help within the society. (feel free to contact me and discuss anytime)
Finally the 125th Annual Dinner Raffle raised around £800 toward Ruck of Cancer (prostate cancer), thanks to all who contributed and especially to Stuart Berry for the wide range of prizes he acquired.
Adrian Danks Chairman
DISCIPLINE SECRETARY
At the time of writing, a similar number of cases have been dealt with compared to 2015/16. It is still prudent however to mention that there is still a worrying trend regarding adult behavior at club junior matches. There have been 8 charges relating to RFU rule 5.12. in which the disciplinary panel has been involved .. There have been 2 citing s this season and cases came from 48 clubs with 28 having more than 1 card this is an increase this season. 1 club has been seen by the panel regarding their disciplinary record and another 2 clubs will be seen in due course. A clubs record includes all club teams from junior level upwards to the club 1st team. Clubs should be aware that possible sanctions for a poor record include loss of league points and/or relegation and financial penalties, there are a number of other sanctions also available. The usual offences have occurred during the season Striking with hand/arm/fist 45, head 2 , stamp/kick 5 dissent/abuse 12, yellow cards 10 tackling offences 12 ,ungentlemanly conduct 1 . The disciplinary secretary mentions that he would like all referees to comply with the report being submitted within 48 hours. The case can be processed quicker, for example a sanction re a sending off might only necessitate a sanction of 2 weeks but if the report is late and the affected club doesn’t respond for 3 weeks then not only does the player suffer but the club also.
It is also disappointing to note that cases increase when end of season combination cup matches take place.
Barry Clark Vice Chairman and Discipline Officer
FINANCE MANAGER
The independently Audited Balance Sheets for Season 2015/2016 showed that the County Account and the Members Account were in good health at 31 August 2016. The same looks very likely for this season but we will have to wait until 31 August 2017 to see. During the year the Gloucester & District Society of Rugby Union Referees voted to become incorporated and a Limited Company was formed, namely the Gloucester & District Referee Society Limited. Accounts with the new name were arranged with NatWest so that the assets of the Gloucester & District Society of Rugby Union Referees could be transferred. The assets are to be transferred into the new account when the end of season activities has quietened down.
Membership Fund
The membership subscriptions were less than from previous seasons. The timely payment of subs was reasonable, but as usual a few members had to be chased for payment. If re-elected I will propose to the committee that Membership Fees for Season 2017/2018 should not change. Some of our members have made donations to the Fund. The fund has been used as follows. We have carried on awarding a badged shirt, shorts and socks to the successful candidates of the CountyExamination. This season there were nine recipients, up on last season’s five, but not near our record number of fifteen two seasons ago. The committee has decided that recipients of annual awards should receive a tankard as a memento of their award, after they have returned their trophies from the previous season.
New sponsorship was received from R.A.F Careers; their valued sponsorship enabled the Society to ensure the members wore smart kit.
Andy Barnby has continued to keep up the high standards of our various merchandises. The range of kit that Andy has sourced still makes us the envy of many other Societies.
CountyFund
Fees to our customers were held yet again for the sixth season running. A high percentage of them paid their fees within two months, with a little late cajoling. A small amount of chasing was required, but a big improvement on previous seasons. The County fund looks after the Training and Administration of the Society.
The fee the Society pay annually for “whostheref” is money well spent. The Appointment Secretary/ secretaries will possibly allude to less hindrances and time consuming in his/their reports.
The Executive Committee with my guidance has ensured that the Fund has been used prudently. The Fund was used to pay the legal fees incurred with incorporation, changing to a limited company. It is also used to pay for the upkeep of the website. It paid the expenses incurred in the videoing of games and the storage of the videos Members who have been videoed will have seen Tony Wakelin at their games; these videos have been found to be valuable to our members and their coaches with training and development. Three new assessors are now warmly clothed in coats and trousers , wet weather writers have been purchased for all of the assessors and the committee is investigating the purchase of gilet’s to keep assessors and coaches warm whilst carrying out their duties.
Our exchange programme, training, and assessing expenses are paid out of the fund, as are expenses incurred by committee members, carrying out Society duties. The fund also caters for expenses incurred with the visit from our U.S.A colleagues, and our members New England flight expense also receives a subsidy.
I have let the Committee know that, if proposed, seconded and then if elected I will be entering my 37th year as Finance Manager/Treasurer and my 52st year as a Society member.
Leslie Newcombe Finance Manager.
APPOINTMENTS SECRETARY
1. General
In summary
-Over 1359 matches refereed (excluding Sunday Junior matches), a decrease of 213
-Small increase in number of matches without referees
-Fewer cancelled matches
-Fairly static referee numbers with an equal number of retiring and new referees
-Referee recruitment down on last season
I would like to express my thanks to the hard work put in by
- Simon Tyler on Sunday Junior Rugby appointments
- Tony Wakelin on Midweek appointments
- Dave Meek on Exchange fixtures.
- Alex McDonald who has taken on the onerous task of reappointments
2. Saturdays
On Saturdays (excluding RFU and incoming exchange referees) we refereed 959 (1102 last season) matches, an average of 28 (31) per week. We were unable to referee 75 (55) matches an average of 2 (1.5) per week. The most games we refereed in one week was 42 (48) and the most not refereed was 8 (10). There were 14 (16) weeks where all matches were covered – over 40%. 262 (322) matches were cancelled or postponed; many of which then had to be rearranged and reappointed.
3. Mid-week
221 (287) midweek matches were refereed, mainly schools and colleges. In addition referees/assistant referees were appointed to 77 (68) combination cup matches.
4. Sundays
60 (70) senior/women’s matches were refereed.
See separate report from Simon Tyler on the County Junior Cup and Sunday Junior Rugby.
5. Exchanges
42 (45) exchange matches were refereed. Similarly to last season several more referees made themselves available for exchanges but we still need to encourage more referees to take up the opportunity.
6. Referee resources
Referee resources decreased slightly to 92 (93) nominally active Saturday referees although only just over half this number were available at any one time.
In addition we have 9 Panel/Group/Assistant referees in the Society.
13 (12) active referees retired or left. These were offset by 12 (27) new referees although 8 have yet to ref their first game.
Rodger Brennan Appointments Secretary
REFEREE DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Once again, we have had a good season of main speakers. They were Clare Daniels (New law requirements), Daniel Parrott and Barry Clark (Yellow and Red Cards), Wayne Thompson (Maul from L/O), Craig Maxwell-Keyes (Referee Development), Nathan Howarth, Stuart Berry, Steve Bowen, Tom Falkingham, Howard Jones, Bob McCrudden and Alex Marsh (Top Tips) Anthony Woodthorpe, George Selwood, Andy Wigley, (in Goal) Christophe Ridley (High Tackles) and Peter Brunt, (Team of three). Many of these sessions were facilitated by Chris White and recorded by Tony Wakelin. The Society is indebted to them. We are very fortunate and probably more fortunate than many Societies, to be able to provide such a high quality of speakers and content, all intended to improve our refereeing.. As ever there were plenty of opportunities for member participation.
This is reflected in a consistently good turnout at our meetings of circa 50 members at each meeting. The worry is those referees and assessors who never turn up. Whilst a minority of non- attenders have regular alternative commitments, this does not account for the majority of non-attenders. Yet these referees are out refereeing on behalf of the Society. Are they up to date? Are they serving the game to best effect? Are they creating a bad reputation for other referees, refereeing and the Society? Perhaps some of these referees would like to contact the Referee Development Officer and let him know what might attract them to meetings? This concern aside, the meetings are supplemented by Colin Reeves’ excellent monthly clinics for new referees.
In addition we had a regular turn out of approximately ten referees for pre-season fitness training from July onwards. We progressively used a series of exercises, all designed to improve our agility, stamina, speed, positioning and mental fitness, when under physical fitness demands. Numbers attending our YoYo fitness assessments also improved over the season, but it would be good to see more referees assessing their own fitness levels. Referees might like to refer to the Grading policy at
Finally, if there are topics that you think we should tackle, not included in the annual programme (also on the website), just ask!
Geoff Cove Referee Development Officer
SOCIETY MATCH OBSERVER DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
I took over this role in October last year as sadly Peter Lewis decided to stand down at short notice so unfortunately, I have been learning this new position on the ‘hoof’ so to speak. I would like to thank all the MO’s and coaches for being patient with me during this tricky time. I would like to give extra thanks to Dave Meek and Barry Clark for all their assistance both at the start and during my first season as SMODO.
At the writing of this report I can confirm that a total of approximately 244 referees have been observed. 52 of which were exchange referees coming into County. This exceeds last season tally of approximately 203 so you can see we have been very busy. These results are due to the ongoing commitment of all our volunteers who regularly make themselves available. The toughest weekend of the past season was by far the three New England guests plus two Romanian visitors and threereferee exchanges with Somerset. By hook or by crook we managed it, but it was a challenge. When I took over this role I had a list of 20 Active MO’s of which some were still available to referee and others doubled up as referee coaches. Sadly, we have lost a vast amount of experience that Peter Lewis brought to the Society and that void will be a difficult one to fill. Another stalwart of the Society who has also sadly decided to withdraw from making himself available as from next season is David Payne. We will be greatly indebted to David for all his dedication over the years and we hope he continues to stay in touch and continues to attend training meetings where his experienced input will be greatly appreciated. With Sam Collins and Tony Roberts continuing with the RFU duties along with Steve Bowen on SW Group the number was reduced 17. Then subtracting the members still juggling with their reffing carriers like, Dave Meek, Geoff Cove, Nick Palmer and Nige Stephenson that reduces it again to 13. We also lost Gerald Pitt and Peter Shortell for a short period over the winter months for various reasons along with Ade Danks, Colin Edmonds, Phil Dent and Meirion Jones who share their availability along with their coaching role, the list was reduced to just 7 maybe the ‘Magnificent 7’ consisting of Terry Curtis, Colin Reeves, Vernon Newport, Doug Auchterlonie, Chris Cooper, David Payne and Fred Ward, and that’s if they were all available at the same time. So, you can see that based on these numbers I feel we have worked really hard together to produce a very successful season. Thank you gentlemen, well done!
Colin Reeves continues to do an invaluable job looking after the Probationers as well as chaperoning some of our younger members whilst starting out on their refereeing journeys. Yet another stalwart of the Society he also runs a pre “County Badge” course which has proved to several new members invaluable. This is such an important position within our Society that we cannot afford to lose it. Therefore, we will be looking for volunteers to assist/shadow Colin in forthcoming seasons so as to strengthen this role long into the future.
Tony Wakelin has firmly cemented his role within the Society producing quality Video footage for our developing referees which is also a great asset for Coaches, MO’s and less experienced referees through training clips. My understanding is that Video Analysis will most definitely be the way forward, so again this is an area of our development programme that may will need to be increased. If anyone is interested in considering this role further please contact me. I am also aware that our Listening Kits have now become a key item in monitoring referee’s management and communication skills. I know that some of our kits are in a poor state of repair and need updating. However, we must take an individual responsibility for the care of these kits as they prove very expensive to repair and/or replace. I will be looking for funding to upgrade a number of our old frequency sets plus extra accessories in the near future.