Touch Football Australia (TFA) is delighted to announce a record contingent of referees in attendance at The Championships, presented by Inferno.
The reimagined national championship event has seen a 44% uplift in referee numbers with a record 230 referees to officiate this week– including twenty-nine making their debut at a national event.
The increased interest allows for more referees to be exposed to a higher level of the game and receive expert coaching from the newly implemented TFA High-Performance Referee Panel.
Over the past 12 months, The National Referee Program has been building a new direction and focus to ensure the on-field product and the enjoyment of players and coaches is enhanced by the performance and understanding of the officiating community.
A key benefit of the new event format is the ability for more referees to be exposed to this coaching and analysis that can then be taken back to local associations across the country.
National Referee Program Manager, Luke Saldern, acknowledged the incredible contribution of referees and highlighted the upcoming event.
“TFA is excited to implement at this event the newly structured High-Performance Referee Panel to ensure that every referee, regardless of where they are on their journey, is put in a position to succeed”, Saldern said.
“We are delighted to help deliver this new event format with the support of our referees, which we would not be able to operate without their incredible support and contribution.”
“Not only will The Championships be the largest ever contingent of teams, but our opportunity to expose and educate more match officials has increased in parallel.”
It’s a family affair this week for many referees, which illustrates the incredible opportunities that exist in our sport. Just take a look at some of these family ties:
- Sam (National Referee Squad [NRS] Referee Panel), John, and Alec Clark (NRS) – wife, husband, and son.
- Vince and Patrick Costigan – identical twins
- Amanda and Savannah Draper – mother and daughter
- Brett and Lachlan Freshwater – father and son (NRS)
- Michael, Zoe, and Zac Genrich – father, daughter, and son (NRS)
- Aaron and Jillian McRoberts – husband and wife
- Marcus and Abigail Muller – father and daughter
- Victor and Steven Naumovski – father and son
- Chris and Cody Reynolds – father and son
- Tim and Stacey Steinhardt – husband and wife
TFA thanks all the following referees for their support this week.
Referee Panel
Ian Matthew – NRS Head Coach
Chris Dolahenty – Appointments and Senior Performance Lead
Ken Golden – Upgrade and Development Lead
David Field – NRS Panel
Luke McKenzie – NRS Panel
Sam Clark – NRS Panel
Craig Schumacher – NRS Panel
Brendan Jones – Appointments and Senior Performance Panel
Erene Devall – Appointments and Senior Performance Panel
Greg Taylor – Appointments and Senior Performance Panel
Debbie Bridgeman – Appointments and Senior Performance Panel
Rob Cooper – Upgrade and Development Panel
Tim Pearson – Upgrade and Development Panel
Ivan Giammarco – Upgrade and Development Panel
David Coe – Upgrade and Development Panel
Referee Contingent
Pierre Abiwahab
Terri Alexander (Thomas)
Nicholas Altin
James Anderson
Bayley Aziz
David Baggio
Philip Balcombe
Victor Baptista
Adrian Baxter
Emma Bleasdale
Jake Bogue
Matt Bowcock
Matthew Bowman
Anthony Boza
Patrick Branley
Justin Brydon
Linda Buchanan
Angela Budai
Andrew Burrows
Rebecca Buzzacot
Tony Calabria
William Calleja
Lachlan Carey
Craig Carmody
Ella Carnegie
Tsz Hin Chan
Eric Chaney
Sylvain Charras
Charlie Cheesley
Fuk Hei (Pinky) Chong
John Clark
Alec Clark
Ivan Cole
Mason Colwell
Blake Cooper
Matt Cooper
Peter Cooper
Zoe Cornish
Vince Costigan
Patrick Costigan
Peter Cramp
Simon Croft
Amanda Crowley (Hollis)
Adam Dangel
Michael Donato
Thomas Donehue
Hayden Drapalski
Savannah Draper
Amanda Draper
Liam Eden
Lloyd Edwards
Charity Elford
Clive Elks
Mike Ellis
Charlise Falconer
Simon Fau
Louise Fernance
Grant Flanigan
George Forster-Jones
Kieran Fraser
Lachlan Freshwater
Brett Freshwater
John Frost
Zac Genrich
Zoe Genrich
Michael Genrich
Paul George
Reef Gilbert-Marino
Jeffery Gilewski
Graham Goodwin
Jacob Gregg
Kerrod Hall
Jon Hall
Michael Halling
Aleksandr Hampton
John Hamstra
Miriam Hansen
Ben Harris
Charmaine Harrison
George Haswell
Mark Hawthorne
Andrew Holliday
Ben Horner
Phil Horwell
Brock Howard
Katrina Hughes
Troy Jacobsen
Rina Janson
Simon Jeary
Craig Jeffs
Cooper Jones
Jay Keane
David Kerwin
Paul Khoudair
James Knowlson
Meg Kouchi
Daniel Kustec
Darren Lampard
Michael Landsberg
Connor Lane
Megan Lane
Sing Lun Lau
Clayton Laurence
Matt Lavery
Darcy Lawrence
Paul Lewis
Joshua Little
Michael Littlefield
Wayne Lo
Bree-Ann Lo Grande
David Lowth
Darryl Lyon
Douglas Mackie
Tua Kiri-Marie Makowharemahihi
Scott Marsh
Tua Marsters
Julien Martin
Timothy McErlane
David McGee
Rob McKay
Craig McKee
Aaron McRoberts
Jillian McRoberts
Sitha Mead
Justin Melling
Joe Mercuri
Damien Miller
Mahonri Moana
Beth Monk
Shobna Moore
Patrick Moran
Deborah Mortimer
Campbell Muir
Marcus Muller
Abigail Muller
Steven Naumovski
Victor Naumovski
Jacob Nelson
Barry Nichols
Richard Norris
Joshua North
Gregory Oaten
Justin Parsons
Stephen Pike
Samuel Piper
Steven Pratt
Kodey Prendergast
Sam Priestley
Darren Quinlan
Fiona Quinn
Jordan Randle
Cody Reynolds
Chris Reynolds
Paul Richardson
Micah Rodgers
James Roe
Benjamin Rogers
John Salisbury
Brandon Sanderson
Joseph Joel Scarfo
William Schatz
Trevor Schelberg
Lynda Scott
Aaron Searston
Amanda Sheeky
Caitlin Sherry
Mio Shimma
Christopher Short
Alanah Sinclair
Kim Skelly
Bailey Sloman
Brad Smith
Anthony Smith
Mark Sproule
Edward Stanmore
James Steinberg
Tim Steinhardt
Stacey Steinhardt
Paul Sullivan
Ashton Sykes
Felix Tebbutt
Paul Tesoriero
Joshua Thomas-Schumacher
Kane Thorburn
John Turnbull
Josh Vernon
Albie Viel
John Viklund
Matthew Waetford
Ryan Wake
Graham Walters
Caleb Walz
Hayden Wearne
Elly Wehrle
Nicole West
Darren Whitbourne
Rachel Whiteside
Jason Whitney
Chelsey Wilks
Alec Williams
Brendon Wilson
Riley Wotton
Fabian Yam
Levi Yeaman
Tung Yi Yim
Siu Hong Kenny Yip
Mick Zhurawel
