The Rugby League European Federation ran a two-day training course for international match officials on May 20/21, which was specifically designed to enhance core skills needed when officiating Rugby League and qualify the delegates as RLEF match official tutors. There were 28 match officials from 16 different nations taking part in the two day course in London. The course involved a tutorial session on the first day followed by a practical session with the referees taking to the field to officiate community matches in London under observation from the instructors.
“The course was hugely successful with a great representation from nations throughout Europe such as Norway, Germany, Ukraine, Italy and some beyond Europe including Jamaica, South Africa and the USA,” said RLEF Match Officials Manager Steve Davis. “These National Governing Bodies of rugby league now have the appropriate skills and resources to produce their own match official courses and develop their recruits into club and representative officials. This is the first step in ensuring that there are suitable structures in place locally to develop a match officials section within all our members’ organisations.”
The course provided participants with the knowledge to train and develop their own officials but also gave them the opportunity to work with match officials from neighbouring governing bodies. “It was a fantastic course that gave us practical experience with a lot of support from the course tutors,” said Nadia Gosney from Malta Rugby League. “The opportunity to come together with a number of match officials from around Europe and further abroad allows us to create a network of match officials that we can work with in the future. For Malta Rugby League, the completion of this course now allows us to set up our own match officials department which is vital to assisting a viable structure in place for Rugby League in Malta.”
Robin Hachache, the Lebanese Rugby League Federation’s newly appointed Head of Match Officials, said: “I will be looking to recruit some new enthusiastic officials to our existing pool of referees, and hopefully improve on the refereeing skills and techniques. I think our latest tutor training course in London has provided me with the knowledge and know-how to lead and manage hopefully one of our most professional seasons to come.”
The RLEF hope to progress from this initial course which contributes to improving match officiating across Europe which is a key part of the RLEF’s development plans. “This match official tutor course is a component of the RLEF’s technical strategy,” said RLEF General Manager, Danny Kazandjian. “It provided ongoing support not only for the individual tutors and their staff, but also to the member organisations that will be up to date with all of the latest developments in officiating regulations, laws and operations.” Each delegate gained RLEF Match Official Tutor status, with the ability to qualify Match officials in their own nation. The RLEF technical strategy, which is part of the RLEF’s over-arching eight-year strategy, is intended ultimately to provide each member with an independent, well trained and managed technical department spanning the areas of both officiating and coaching.