Events

TRRA Youth Referees Shine at Brazoria

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This past weekend, the Texas Rugby Referee Association was honored to supply the referee team for the Brazoria Spartans Youth Rugby Tournament held in Alvin, TX. This event was entirely officiated by U-19 referees, shining a spotlight on the young talent that USA Rugby has in the referee pool.

19 total youth referees descended on the suburb of Houston, TX, including six traveling cross-country on exchange from the Potomac Referee Society of the Mid-Atlantic. Ages of the youth referees ranged from 11-19, with many referees officiating players who were older than them on the day.

The tournament boasted 42 total matches – a mix of 7’s, 10’s, and 15’s – with age groups from 3/4th minis, to Middle School and High School. One of the day’s highlights included High School Boy’s Varsity sides competing in a round robin, of which 6 referees were able to officiate. 4 of the 6 had never before refereed at that level. TRRA Member Peyton Olivas (14) was one of those 4 [pictured below, left].

5 of the youth referees were brand new to officiating, having taken the L1 Referee Course only a week earlier in Houston. Texas Rugby Referee Association Vice-Chair Tim O’Gara was the educator for that course and the referee manager on the day. Colleagues reported, “Tim worked tirelessly to make this event happen. His passion for the number of youth referees to grow and for the kids to have the experience and support so many of us missed out on was palpable. This event was phenomenally run and officiated, and Tim was the cornerstone to making this happen”.

The youth referees were supported outstandingly by a skilled team of referee coaches, coming from all over the country and internationally to volunteer to coach the next generation. Fernando Garcia (Mexico) [pictured below, far right] and Phil Klevorick (Back10Pros) were an invaluable addition to the coaching crew.

The TRRA youth referees in attendance are now all eligible for selection to an exchange to Potomac Referee Society in late July, in an effort to grow the ties between referees both within a region, and cross-country.

This event would not have been possible without the support of the Katy Barbarians, West Houston Lions Rugby Club, Rugby Texas, Potomac Referee Society, Houston Youth Rugby Association, Lost Afternoon Rugby Luncheon, Woodlands Youth Rugby, Back10Pros, The US Rugby Foundation, and the Texas Rugby Referee Association.

Special thanks to the organizational efforts by Ken Fraine (Potomac) and Tim O’Gara (TRRA) who put the pieces together for an amazing weekend.

Photos by Macune CCS

2016 TRRA Elections

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A short note to announce that we have opened the floor to nominations for the 2016/17 Chairman and Vice Chairman positions. Nominations will be accepted until Midnight, Saturday, August 6th, 2016.

We will then open the floor to voting after the nomination window has closed.

Please send your nominations to Wendy at wyoung@texasrugbyunion.com.

If you have questions, please send Scott Green or me an email.

Many thanks,
Butch

TRRA AGM – Aug 20 @ TRU Summit

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All,

The TRRA AGM is just around the corner which means it is time to elect the TRRA Chairman and Vice Chairman. This year it will be held in conjunction with the TRU Summit at the Allen Griffins world class facility, The Den on August 20th @ 4pm.

The TRU Summit will be offering both L1 and TJ-AR courses and it would be great to have TRRA referees there to help out where needed.

As well as the TRRA AGM, the TRU AGM and TRU Hall of Fame will be taking place over the weekend. So make sure you come out to this great event and get involved. Please check your WTR account for an invite.

Thank you,

Scott

Referee Performance Reviewer Course – Feb 26-28 @ Allen, TX

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Date/Time: Friday, Feb. 26, 2016 (6:00 PM) – Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016 (12:00 PM)
Organizer: Texas Rugby Referee Association
Clinic Description
Must arrive in time for 6 PM session Friday evening.
Course will conclude by noon on Sunday
Location & Contact Information
Facility: The Den

109 N Greeneville Ave Allen, TX 75002
Course Host: Peter Watson
Course Leader: Harry Laws
Email: peter.watson@mailgw.com
Phone: 781-891-9041
 Registration Information & Fees
Entry Deadline: 2/16/2016 6:00:00 PM
You must be a member of USA Rugby to participate in this event
Registration Options
Registration Option Price
Event Entry Fee $120.00

 Register Now!

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

Complete the Referee L1 Course & we’ll refund you the cost!

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10419457_648274051928755_5105821905885691897_nRefereeing is a fun, exciting, non-contact way to be involved with Rugby. There are many reasons to take up officiating, you get to see all the action from the best position on the field, it’s a great way to keep fit, enhance your knowledge of the laws, and meet new and interesting people.

The one-day Level 1 Referee course will teach you the fundamentals of the referee’s involvement in the game. The Course comprises of ten units of online learning and some face-to-face learning. Once you have completed the online and face-to-face sessions, you will have gained the skills and knowledge needed to be a fair and effective referee.

What about my $60 bucks?

Very simple! The next course will be held in conjunction with the TRU Summ it in Dallas, TX. Register, complete the certification course and then work with the Texas Rugby Referee Association to officiate four matches (we’ll provide a coaching and additional training) and then the TRU will refund you the course cost ($60).  On top of that you will also receive a match reimbursement per match of at least $50, that’s $200 for a couple of weekends!

2015 TRRA Chair and Vice Chair Nominees

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Texas Rugby Referee AssociationThe nomination window has closed for TRRA Chairman and Vice Chairman.  The nominations received were: Butch Neuenschwander (Chairman) and Scott Green (Vice Chair).  Each nominee was asked to submit a rugby resume, and personal statement:

Butch Neuenschwander
Scott Green

Additional nominations may be submitted on the day of the AGM, however, they will not be listed on the website for member review. Voting will occur at the TRRA AGM, July 19, 2015; we highly encourage all referees to attend. RSVP by responding to the Who’s the Ref invitation or emailing admin@texasrugbyunion.com by Friday, July 10, 2015. Lunch will be provided to those who rsvp.

If a referee cannot attend, they may submit their vote by absentee (email) by Friday, July 17, 2015 at 5pm. Note that absentee votes must be sent digitally to admin@texasrugbyunion.com. Or you may give your proxy to another TRRA Member who will be attending the meeting, notice of this proxy must also be sent digitally to admin@texasrugbyunion.com by the same deadline as above. Per the bylaws, each TRRA Member can only hold one proxy.

Please contact the current TRRA Chairman or any member of the R&L Committee if you have questions or concerns about this process.

TRU Summit – Aug 29-30, 2015 @ Griffins Den

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Texas Rugby Union Summit

Mark your calendars! The Texas Rugby Union is holding it’s first ever Regional Development Summit on August 29-30, 2015 in the Dallas area. The 2 day event will be held at The Den – Athletic Training and Performance Center and will be hosted by the Griffins Rugby Club.

This event is for rugby of all levels including Adults, Collegiate, High School and Youth, men, women, fans, coaches, referees, players and die-hards alike. This is the best opportunity to learn and share about coaching, refereeing and administration.

More details: https://www.texasrugbyunion.com/summit/

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/492795557550325/

Hashtag: #TRUSummit

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