Welcome to the Youth Match Officials Program – it started out as a plan for preparing referees for mini rugby. Well, now we are also particularly recruiting people who would be available between April 15 and June 15 every year; of course, you would be ever so welcome to continue as a Referee or even as an Assistant Referee as you prefer for as long as you wish. We will find you a game! See our explanation in this PDF of ERURS Needs.
WHO was invited? Youth, players under 19 years of age and currently involved in rugby. After the success of the FLIRR Project, with much thanks again to the support of the InMotion Network, for the Women Take the Lead program, with funding provided by the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation and Heritage Canada, we decided to run the program again for all youth.
WHAT? The Youth Match Officials Project was an iRB Level 1 Introduction to Match Officiating happening over two days in March 2011. We had 12 people register, 10 of them showed up, and out of that 8 finished the course, and out of those 5 actually refereed in the AJRA mini season.
Day 1 consisted of the components A, B and C.
Day 2 consisted of the components D, E and F.
A: Game knowledge, Restart with kicks
B: Role of the referee, Open play & advantage
C: Risk management, Restart with scrum
D: Positioning & communication, Restart with lineout
E: Foul play, Refereeing contact (T-R-M)
F: Season planning, Review, Exam
NOTE: The participants had to attend all modules in order to receive full credit and certificate of L1 course participation.
HOW? Using hands-on work, demos, role playing, group work and watching games on video, as well as other activities.
HOW MUCH? With generous grants from the City of Edmonton we were able to run the course for $10 a person. We had a maximum enrolment of 25 participants, but as described above 12 actually registered. We sent out the invite to all club presidents, and advertised the event on both the Rugby Alberta and Edmonton Rugby Union websites. We will continue this program with funds from tournaments, donations, and future grants.
ANYTHING ELSE? However, yes, there was a catch!!
In order to attend this course, each participant must do the following preparation before the course:
- Registration for the YMO Course – ahead of time so we could prepare the space & materials.
- Law Exam – participants were asked to do the short law exam at http://www.irblaws.com/EN/.
- Rugby Ready (Safe Rugby) – participants were asked to study & do exam athttp://www.irbrugbyready.com/.
- Certificates – participants had to send in their certificates from both exams. Having the participants do these exams prepared them better for the course, and got them thinking about safety, law, and the role of the referee before the course.
The 5 individuals were a great help every Saturday morning, and some of them even continue to do games at Rugby Fest and as Assistants. Thanks for everyone’s support & commitment.