Promotions

Wendy Young – Promoted to B Panel

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Wendy Young - Promoted to B PanelIt is with great pleasure that the TRRA announces the promotion of Wendy Young to B panel. Wendy has dedicated herself to the world of refereeing for many years both here in Texas and Nationally. She has always strived to set the highest of standards for match officials both on and off the field. With this promotion Wendy Young becomes the first female referee in Texas to attain this honor and again has set the bar high for all that follow in her footsteps.

The TRRA would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Wendy and say thank you for all the time, effort and sacrifice she has given to the Texas Rugby community and in particular the TRRA. We wish you all the best for your future and look forward to seeing you out in the center.

2017 Spring Promotions

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On behalf of the TRRA RATO, it is my distinct honor and privilege to announce the following referees have been promoted, effective immediately.  I personally spoke with each of them in the last 24 hours and they are all very excited to take on the next challenges. This list is not all inclusive and more promotions could be announced as early as this 7s season.  Many of you are knocking on the promotion door and we encourage you to keep up the great work.

Please take the time to reach out and congratulate your referee teammates.

Promoted to C3
John Anderson
Andrew Marshall
 
Promoted to C2
Ozzie Bayazitoglu
Vaughn Crowe
Vincent Fellone
Drew Low

Promoted to C1
Kelly Hodge

Greg Varnell Promoted to B Panel

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13151903_1145195178837462_3574610401267609484_nAfter discussions with USA Rugby Referee Leadership, it is a very distinct pleasure and true honor for the TRRA to announce that Greg Varnell has been promoted to B panel referee, effective immediately.

Greg has been an exceptional referee, coach and mentor for many years. His contributions to the TRRA, the TRU and USA Rugby are endless.

Let us be clear, Greg is not retiring or riding off into the sunset. We fully expect to see him in center for the top matches in Texas for many more years.

Please reach out to Greg and congratulate him on his promotion. It has been several years since we had someone earn this promotion in Texas.

Well done Sir!

More Spring Promotions!

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It has been a great year so far. 15s only has 2 weeks left and then we move into 7s season. Please let Wendy know if you are interested in participating in any of the upcoming 7s tournaments throughout the state.

With out further ado, the following announcement will be posted on our social media outlets asap:

The Referee Advancement and Training Organization (RATO) of the Texas Rugby Referee Association is honored to announce the following promotions effective immediately:

To C1
Theo Van Wyk
Mark Hughen
Doug Corrigan

To C2
Kelly Hodge
Cole Jones
Shon Husband
Craig Geaslen

To C3
Kate Jewett-Williams
Robert Hays
Vincent Fellone
Travis Bartniski

Please congratulate these outstanding referees for their superior performance and dedication to striving for the next level. Our sincere thanks to every referee in the association. . Without you, the matches do not happen. More promotions coming in the near future.

Joey Swatzell Promoted to C1

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10295753_1107605772596403_1923535747159273953_nOn behalf of the TRRA RATO, it is an honor and my distinct pleasure to announce the promotion of Joey Swatzell to the level of C1 referee.

Joey has worked very hard in all aspects and recently received 2 above grade evals and a strong recommendation from the USA referee National Selector.

Please join us in congratulating Joey on a job well done!!!

There are more promotion announcements forthcoming. Keep up the hard work and thank you for all you do!!!

TRRA Promotions Winter 2015

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On behalf of the TRRA and the Referee Advancement & Training Organization (RATO), it is my pleasure to announce the final round of promotions for 2015.

TRRA would like to thank all the referees, mentors, coaches, and teams for their commitment to improving the game of rugby. Please join us in recognizing the hard work of the following referees who have been promoted:

C4 to C3
Harrell
Frasier
Husband
Hodge
Cortright
Hong
Jones
Howard

TRU Summit AR CourseRATO hosted a Level 1, Level 2 and Coaching of Match Officials referee certification courses in August 2015 in conjunction with the TRU Summit. Last year we held our largest course with 17 attendees. The course at the Summit had a record 19 attendees!

As always, participants from each course were able to work on their particular coursework with live teams at the Summit. This hands on experience was reported as the best part of the course. We saw a wide spectrum of rugby enthusiasts that all want to give back to the game by picking up the whistle. Please welcome the newest additions to the TRRA team:

Newly Certified:

Level 1
David Dodge
Meredith Frasier
Jacqueline Harrell
Michael Hong
Tim Howard
Cole Jones
Justin King
Kristopher Newman
Ozgur Bayazitoglu
George Batten
Kevin Buckley
Travis Cagle
Ryan Dusablon
David Hettena
Marcus McKee
Mickey Patterson
Gregory Stewart
Thomas Waghorne

Level 2
Travis Bartniski
Vaughn Crowe
John Hunter
Maurice Mullaly
Rod Puentes
Paul Purcell

CMO (Coaching of Match Officials)
Stan Cagle
William Campbell
Shawn Martin
David McPhail
Wendy Young

The TRRA is excited to have so many new referees, referee coaches and current referees working towards the next level. We appreciate everyone’s dedication and hard work to themselves and to the success of the TRRA.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to improving the Texas Rugby Union and the Texas Rugby Referee Association.

Butch Neuenschwander
TRRA Chairman

2015 TRRA Chairman and Vice Chairman Results

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Texas Rugby Referee AssociationCongratulations to the new TRRA Chairman Butch Neuenschwander and Vice Chairman Scott Green.

Butch has been a referee for five years, is a C1 referee, CMO Certified and is working towards becoming a World Rugby Educator. He takes on the role of Chairman as Traci Young has stepped down to focus on other areas. Traci will continue to give back to the game as a referee and as a referee coach but is looking forward to taking a break from administration. We can’t thank Traci enough for her tireless work, make sure to giveher your thanks as you see her around the pitch.

Scott has been a referee in Texas for five plus years and brings a wealth of experience to the table. He is USA Rugby National Panel referee, CMO certified and is regularly called upon to handle the toughest matches in Texas. He is truly an artist of the game and believes strongly in letting the players play within the laws of the game.

Feel free to reach out to Butch and Scott:

Butch – bneuenschwander@texasrugbyunion.com

Scott – sgreen@texasrugbyunion.com

TRRA Promotions Spring 2015

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TRRA & TRU Members,

trra_logoOn behalf of the TRRA and the Referee Advancement & Training Organization (RATO), it is my pleasure to announce the first round of promotions for 2015.

TRRA would like to thank all the referees, mentors, coaches, and teams for their commitment to improving the game of rugby. Please join us in recognizing the hard work of the following referees who have been promoted:

C2 to C1

Butch Neuenschwander

Butch has recently moved swiftly through the referee ranks as he has rededicated himself physically and mentally. Butch brought on a personal trainer and nutritionist. It clearly paid off as he ran the highest beep test (13.1) of all the referees this year! He capped off a great season officiating the RRRC Men’s Club Rugby D3 Championship Match. Please join us in congratulating Butch.

Tim O’Gara

Tim completed the Level 200 Referee Certification with flying colors and clearly this course was a great stepping stone for him. Also, Tim was very persistent about requesting film from teams and providing that to his Mentor & RATO for development. As a result he whistled four Division 1 Men’s Club matches this spring with great proficiency. Please join us in congratulating Tim.

C3 to C2

Joey Swatzell
Donnie Hennop

RATO hosted a very successful Level 2 referee certification course in December 2014 and a Level 1 in April. The Level 1 was the largest the TRRA has ever hosted with 17 total attendees from Middle School, College, Club, and Retired ages. This course also presented a new format instead of the traditional classroom setting. Participants ran AR and shadow center refereed at a college tournament as part of the course. This hands on experience was reported as the best part of the course. We saw a wide spectrum of rugby enthusiasts that all want to give back to the game by picking up the whistle. Please welcome the newest additions to the TRRA team:

Newly Certified:

Karl Tolar
Chong Shin
Blair McClure
Robert McClure
Roderick Palmer
Reginald Joseph
Zachary Meyers
Chris Madonna
Brett Stremme
Isaac Hughen
Ryan Walsh
Shon Husband
Christopher Campbell
Kelly Hodge
Steven Rodriquez
Maurice Mullaly
Joel Cortright

The TRRA is excited to have so many new referees and current referees working towards the next level. We appreciate everyone’s dedication and hard work to themselves and to the success of the TRRA.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to improving the Texas Rugby Union and the Texas Rugby Referee Association.

Traci Schmidtke Young
TRRA Chairman
RATO

TRRA Standards & Pathway Document Review

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Texas Rugby Referee AssociationWith the TRRA AGM coming up in August, the R&L Committee is reviewing a few things (bylaws!) and that includes the Standards and Pathway documentation. While the R&L is taking a close look, we’d like to ask for feedback and or questions from the membership. Review it below and please contact Traci Schmidtke, Vice Chair or Jon Savage, R&L Leader.

TRRA Standards & Pathways

For future reference these and other documents can be found under Referee Corner > Documents & Resources.

TRRA Summer AGM – Aug 2, 2014 (SATURDAY) – Austin, TX

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trra_logoThe Texas Rugby Referee Association (TRRA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held in Austin, TX on Aug 2, 2014 (SATURDAY). We will have special presentations from USA Rugby Referee  & West Zone Manager Marc Nelson along with our normal AGM topics!

What: TRRA Annual AGM (Agenda & Minutes)
When: Saturday, Aug 2, 2014 from 9am to 5pm
Where: Scholz Garten, Austin, TX

RSVP: Please RSVP by July 18, 2014, email rsvp@texasrugbyunion.com. If you do not RSVP, no lunch!

Live Stream

Like last year we will LIVE stream the AGM. We do not guarantee the quality of the video or audio, this is a BETA broadcast. Questions from viewers can be submitted via the Ustream Chat/Social Stream. WATCH the AGM here, broadcast will start tomorrow at approximately at 8:50am CST.

TRU AGM

The TRU AGM will be Sunday, August 3, 2014 all are welcome to attend!