European referees strike black gold in Bristol
Monday 26th Jul, 2010 @ 09:00
The 2010 European Touch Championships proved to be a watershed for referees with 11 upgrades to the top black badge level with performances on the pitch to rival the best in the world. A total of 73 referees from 14 countries descended on Bristol to officiate in 4 days of competition between Europe's best Touch players.
The Tournament saw Lucas Von Hoff (Scotland) voted Male Referee of the Tournament with Alex Pratt (Scotland) as Best Female Referee. An excellent performance from Senga Derrick (Scotland) saw her win the prize as Most Improved Referee.
The referees were supported by a coaching panel featuring a wealth of refereeing experience including FIT Referee Director Ian Matthew. Ian commented: "What I have witnessed with the development of the European referees over the past few years in nothing short of amazing. Under the guidance of Lucas Von Hoff and his panel the referees have taken a leap forward. I will be now able to appoint European referees to Australia versus New Zealand games which are the most sought after in the referee world and will be a first for the European crew."
These thoughts were echoed by Darrin Sykes, Chair of the Touch New Zealand Referee Advisory Panel and also part of the Euros Coaching Panel: "I was very impressed with the overall standard of European refereeing at the 2010 event. The referees who were ranked in the top couple of finals would put pressure on the best of Australian and New Zealand referees at a World Cup. For WC2011 in Scotland it means that there will be some serious competition amongst Australian, New Zealand and European Referees for final appointments."
There were a large number of upgrades at all the lower levels too. "It's a reward for all the hard work put in over the past few years," says Scottish Touch President and Europe's first senior black badge referee, Peter Faassen de Heer. "Guys like Chris Wheeler from England run courses across Europe so to see these referees repay us with such great performances is fantastic. We've developed a close-knit support culture at local leagues here and that has really driven up standards."
It's something that Ian Matthew noticed too: "One thing that is a stand out, is the camaraderie and support that these referees afford each other. I spoke about this at the closing [function] and I really need to emphasize that this, above all, should remain as a feature on the referee culture through Europe and the UK."
