Largest Ever Referee Contingent at The Championships

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