South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales have all had their state events in recent months, with plenty of achievements in the refereeing arm of the sport occurring.
Members of the National Referees Panel (NRP) have also been in attendance at the events, with Touch Football Australia’s Director of Referees, Greg West attending the South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales state events, Ian Matthew attending both the Tasmania and New South Wales State Cups, while Henry Dos Santos and Ken Golden were also on hand at the Western Australia State Championships.
West is proud of all of the refereeing achievements at these events, saying that they were all successful.
“I think that the refereeing standard has been outstanding. The NRP have been very busy,” West said.
The South Australia State Cup was the first of the state events for the second half of 2010, with the event being the first of its kind in South Australia in five years.
Indy Garner was named the MVP referee for the event, while South Australia’s Director of Referees, Damien Carlson, was named the Volunteer of the Year at Touch Football South Australia’s awards night held during the State Cup.
The Western Australia ‘Be Active’ State Championships were next, held between Friday, 19 November 2010 until Sunday, 21 November 2010.
James McMahon was named the Referee of the Tournament, as well as being named the number one referee at the tournament. David Leslie was named the Most Improved Referee.
Being upgraded to a Level 4 Referee is the highest honour you can receive at a state based event, and the following people were upgraded to this level:
Brendon Wilson
Kate Steinitz (Senior)
Matt Thomas (Senior)
One more referee, Jennifer Roe from the Northern Territory, also travelled to the event to be assessed for her Level 4 badge, and was successful.
The following referees were appointed to the grand finals at the WA State Championships:
Men’s Open – James McMahon, Richard McIllroy, Chris Murray
Women’s Open - Justin Parsons, Annabelle Connolly, Phil Galvin
Mixed Open – Lee Broadbridge, Jeremy Sorenson, Shaun Birmingham
Men’s 30’s - Paul Richardson, John Bedford, Ben Morton
Men’s 40’s – Matt Thomas, Steve Williams, Stuart Evans
Women’s 27’s – Andrew Scotford, Brendan Williams, John Corser
Women’s 35’s – Ben Grainger, Damien Capp, Pam Tau
Tasmania’s State Cup was held on the last Saturday in November, with two referees receiving upgrades.
Southern Touch’s Matt Phillips received a Level 4 upgrade, as did Devonport Touch Association’s Jo Mason.
National Referee Panel member, Ian Matthew, and National Referee Squad member, Luke McKenzie, were also in attendance to help out at the event.
The New South Wales State Cup saw over 200 teams compete in the event at Port Macquarie, with plenty of referees also taking part in the event.
Nine referees were upgraded to Level 4 badges at the event:
Ali Amin (Western Suburbs)
Brett Bevan (Doyalson)
Rob Bowen (Canterbury)
Danny Gock (Northern Suburbs)
Paul Khoudair (Western Suburbs)
James Ling (Wallsend)
Phil Rainger (Narrabri)
Daryl Shaw (Penrith)
Jordyn Tomba (Doyalson)
Of special mention is Phil Rainger, who became the first state graded referee from his association, Narrabri Touch Association.
The following referees received finals appointments following strong performances throughout the event:
Men’s Open – Adam Foley, Gavin West, David Baggio
Women’s Open – Mick Medlin, Anthony Smith, Sandra Clark
Mixed Open – Luke McKenzie, Kim Skelly, Bill Slade
Men’s 30’s – Bernie O’Donohue, Andrew Smith, Simon Jackson
Men’s Open B – (Aaron McRoberts), John Frost, Greg Myers, Mark Leonard
Men’s 20’s – Matt Seldon, Chris Dennison-Smith, Gavin King
Men’s 35’s – Daniel Scully, Josh Vernon, Adam O’Keeffe
Men’s 40’s – Dave Brown, John Frost, Mark Sinclair
Men’s 45’s – Victor Naumovski, Mick McGrath, Mark Fenton
Mixed Open B – Victor Baptista, Tony Calabria, Rina Janson
Women’s Open A Reserve – Karren Strachan, Luke Heckendorf, Blake Dawes
Senior Mixed – (Phi Lowe), Mark Sinclair, (Jillian McRoberts), Daniel Scully, Nic Altin
Women’s 20’s – Karen Davies, Mark Camilleri, Paul Tesoriero
Women’s 30’s – Sally Melzer, Craig Hughes, Darian Furner
Men’s 50’s – Peter Millington, (Larry Kent), Greg Eggins, John Mitchell
Women’s 40’s – John Salisbury, Garry Foster, Nicole Teo
Women’ Open B – Trent Richards, Blake Richards, Bryce Sainty
The following referees were also acknowledged for their achievements at the event:
Leading referee – Adam Foley
Leading Women’s referee – Sandra Clark
Leading Senior referees – Bill Slade, Karren Strachan
Leading Level 5 referee – Josh Vernon
Leading Level 4 referee – Luke Heckendorf
