New refereeing structure established in Border
The South African Rugby Referees Association (SARRA) recently reached a previously untapped market when they helped to establish a refereeing body for primary schools in Border’s Country Districts.
The need for a body in this far-lying region of the Eastern Cape was realised upon a visit to Mthatha where it was realised no formal organisation existed to control referees in this area.
According to Andre Watson, SARRA Manager, it was clear that structures had to be put in place to help organise referees to officiate matters in an area of the Eastern Cape where a lot of rugby was being played.
“Two years ago we started a refereeing panel for primary schools, which can only consist of primary school referees,” explained Watson.
“We also saw that Border Country Districts always had good teams at the Coca-Cola Under-13 Craven Weeks, but on closer inspection, we realised that the vast amount of rugby played in the province, was without any formal refereeing. Games were handled on a basis of ‘you take the whistle and blow’, which was not good enough.”
According to Watson a meeting was arranged in Mthatha and the attendance was overwhelming.
“Willie Roos (SARRA Schools Manager) and Eugene de Villiers (SARRA Operational Manager) did all presentations and explained to them how to put the proper structures in place and where they fitted into SARRA structures. We started with the hard work – doing courses, coaching referees and handing over of kit. Fifty referees attended the course last week and they were very thankful for the equipment we sponsored,” said Watson.
“With the right training, we’re looking forward to creating a whole new group of referees and judging by the enthusiasm we saw, I’m sure we’ll see a few of them going all the way in the coming years.”
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