The Republic of Texas Rugby Referees – Latest News

The Republic of Texas Rugby Referees is the Local Referee Organization which is now recognised by the Texas Rugby Union and the West Territorial Union. This new organization was created to foster a better working partnership with the LAU and to increase referee recruitment at all ages.

Since its inception approximately two months ago, The Republic of Texas Rugby Referees is proud to announce that we are currently up from the 26 members reported earlier to a new total of 36 with more to come.

TRTRR CONTACTS
Richard Prim
Jim Wolfinger

Our new referee society realized a wealth of new members who came on board to serve as referees for Rugby 7’s this summer. This increase of referees is a testament to hard work by all. We have had a great beginning and now it’s time to embark on the Fall/Spring 08-09 schedule.

Our two last tournaments for this summer were The Woodlands Youth 7’s and the TOLA finals in Shreveport .

The Woodlands 7’s: Aug 2, 2008
The Woodlands 7’s went well. The crew was: Jimmy “Shiner” Schreiner, Bill Rung, Kyle Witenbraker, Richard Zedunkewicz, Jim Wolfinger and Johnny Brown. These guys worked as a team of 3 throughout the day with Jim (Wolfe) Wolfinger, who served as lead ref, providing on going evaluations and coaching while Johnny Brown performed touch judge specialist duties.

Wolfe indicated to me a marked improvement within the framework of the referees’ knowledge, positioning, and management of the games. There were so many highlights of improvement regarding these very new referees and I am very encouraged by their attitudes going into the Fall season. I am happy to say that this group of new referees has decided to continue refereeing in the Fall/Spring season.

TOLA Finals Shreveport : Aug 9, 2008
Interestingly, we had the same crew that worked the TOLA finals that were involved in the very first TOLA 7’s in Dallas on June 7: Meg Pace, James Summers, Kevin Kopp, James Rangel, Wendy Young. Traci Schmidtke and I joined this crew for the Shreveport tournament. (see picture attached)

As this was the TOLA finals…watching the improvement these referees gained over the summer made me extremely proud. Congrats to the crew. We worked a team of three throughout the tournament. I am proud to say the players thought that this crew was superb and they provided me with positive comments throughout the day.

Traci did a fine job of refereeing the men’s 7’s. Her initial referee experience was a tough duty in the SAND at the Corpus 7’s. I am very encouraged with her refereeing savvy as she moves from playing to reffing when time permits. James Rangel really worked on positioning and Kevin Kopp focused on management of the match. Wendy did an excellent job reffing the consolation finals and Meg and James Summers worked the hardest matches of the day, the semi-finals. Dallas Reds came away victorious in the finals capturing a final try on the very last play.

The Summer 7’s was a great and safe way for new referees to develop their core skills and I must say kudos to all for a job well done.

July 25 2008
We are in the apex of the Summer 7’s programs with the only remaining T’OLA event scheduled for August 9th in Shreveport, La. Congratulations to all the players and coaches for their commitment to making this a great summer for rugby.

This Summer 7’s experience has not only been a success for the players and coaches–I am proud to say that it also has been quite an achievement for our local referee society. I am very proud to report that we now have a pool of 63 membeers. Many of these 63 members have participated in our level 1 training class and many have also had fun volunteering their time during these hot summer days by refereeing 7’s matches.

SUCCESS! That is the word that I would use to describe the overall Summer 7’s for all who participated. It has been a very enlightened and rewarding time for all the referees and others who stepped up to the plate and helped TRTRR to become the organization that we are today. As Technical Director for TRTRR–I, along with our Chairman, Jim Wolfinger and the TRU Chairman, David McPhail–with a big Republic smile on our faces–say THANK YOU!

“Rocky” Rocking at Pumpkinfest!
The first item in our news comes from the USA Women’s Referee clinic. Our own Rachel “Rocky” Osborn has been selected to take part in this exclusive Women’s Elite Referee Camp during the Pumpkinfest Tournament later in September. Big congrats go to Rocky as this camp is supported by USA Rugby referee manager, Ed Todd. There were only 12 invitees from across the USA. These selected ladies are scheduled to go through a vigorous class on Friday. After the class on Friday, during the Pumpkinfest tournament, they will be evaluated by one of the top men referees in the country, Richard Avery. Ya’ll give this new mom a big shout out when you see her!

St. Thomas 7’s
Our crew at the St. Thomas 7’s, Richard Zdunkwicz, Dave Cammack, Jeff Krus, Mike Monks, Kyle Wittenbraker, Bill Rung, Jimmy Schreiner, and Rich Prim, had a great time. We would like to thank the St. Thomas coaches, Jim Wolfinger and Brett Mills for putting on a wonderful tournament. Mos
t of our referees were new but they had a great time feeding off of their Katy 7’s experiences. Our veterans worked great with the less experience group and their learning curve was evident in their attitude and demeanor on the pitch.

Brett Mills will come out with a write-up on Athleteconnection.com in the near future regarding this event.

Corpus Christi 7’s by the Sea
One of the highlights of 7’s this summer was the event last week in Corpus Christi. Not only was this event fun and challenging (sometimes quick-sand challenging), it was also an opportunity for our new women to pick up the whistle. Our crew included: Wendy Young, Amy Wolfrey, Stephanie Flores, Traci Schmidtke, Daniel Schwartz, Randy Stuart, Robert Hayes, and Rich Prim.

Kudos to Amy Wolfrey who started out refereeing and really saw the challenges from a different perspective. Amy is a gentle soul and she knew that making tough decisions with the whistle would be a test for her. We spoke that evening about those challenges and she is very much aware of the three things to work on.

Young Steph Flores is a dynamo. She was very commanding in her demeanor and Step made sure that she was heard and understood. She reff’d with a strong sense of duty and made sure that managing the game was her main goal. Traci Schmidtke also was amazing. She picked that whistle up and started using her primary and secondary signals like a veteran…telling folks when advantages were over. I said to Traci, ‘I haven’t seen such natural raw talent since, well since–I started refereeing.’

Randy Stuart had a solid performance all day on Field 3. His hard work and calm attitude made the players very comfortable with his refereeing style. His enthusiasm for refereeing and for the game of Rugby came through loud and clear.

I have to tell you about Dan Schwartz. He came out with a banged-up toe and STILL worked his tail off in that sand. His hard work was noticed when refereeing two games in a row and still wanted to coach some of the young ladies and improve their techniques. Ms. Wendy Young! Mentally tough. She refereed top level matches throughout the day. She has the best attitude in the world when it comes to working hard–she is a true lover of our great sport.

All of our crew were winners this past weekend…Cheers to you Corpus Crabs!

Thanks again for a strong group of TRTRR referees reffing the St. Thomas and Corpus Christi 7’s.

We are getting ready for our Fall season. We will be excited to put some of you in the middle of the pitch. We will video you and make sure you are prepared to move forward this season as a comfortable referee.

June 30, 2008
TRTRR was honored and excited to be able to provide rugby referees for two different events on Saturday, June 28, 2008. Referees from our organization served as touch judges for the prestigious West USA 7’s Qualifier in Dallas , Texas and also called the matches for the Katy Youth 7’s in Katy , Texas .

Katy 7’s
The referees at the Katy 7’s Tournament were able to participate in a unique and fun event. The combination of younger/inexperienced referees learning from the older/experienced referees made for an exceptional experience for all the referees as they enjoyed the play of the young rugby players.

Nine referees called the matches throughout the long day in Katy; TRTRR’s Kyle Wittenbraker, Richard Zdunkewicz, Dan O’Donnell, Bill Rung, David Cammack, Jeff Kraus, Neil Doherty, and Tim O’Gara along with STRR’s Charlie MacMasters. Charlie, who’s sons played in this event, was instrumental in working with newcomer, Richard Zdunkewicz.

Prior to his son’s involvement with the St. Thomas Rugby team, Richard had no working knowledge of the game. Recently, he participated in the day-long IRB Level 1 Rugby Referee Course in Houston , but had no intention of refereeing this past weekend. When he was called upon to do just that, he said that he felt comfortable accepting because of the level of knowledge that he had gained from the course.

Richard was able to shadow Charlie–which proved to be very beneficial for his ongoing development as a referee. After the matches, Richard said, “I will make more progress in my next game because I know what to expect, and I will get to work on my fitness routine”. His commitment to continuous improvement in his refereeing skills was evident when he asked about DVD or VHS tapes that he could purchase to supplement his study.

All of the experienced referees provided positive feedback regarding the learning curve for the young players as well as the new referees. I heard from many observers that the interaction between the young boys and the referees was very inspiring.

Another quote from Bill Rung speaks to the camaraderie of the day at the Katy tournament “One thing you should know was the mutual support all of us gave each other as referees. We had a good crew,there were no experts, we all helped critique each other’s matches and learned from the experience”.

That quotes sums up our mission; to have all of our referees working in a student centered way by working with each other discovering solutions through sharing the wealth of talent at our disposal.

Thanks to Dan O’Donnell and to Neil Doherty of the Katy Youth RFC for a great day.

The West USA 7’s Qualifier
The TRTRR took a strong crew to Dallas and served as touch judges for the USA West 7’s Qualifier. Jim Wolfinger, James Rangel, Aaron Fortin, and Rich Prim worked together in pairs throughout the long hot day.

Congratulations go out to James Rangel and Aaron Fortin for receiving their first Western USA appointment as touch officials for the 7’s qualifier held in Dallas . The qualifier was a fast-paced tournament which showcased the best 7’s players in the western United States .

This TRTRR team performed as touch judges for 26 games (13 each) from 9:15 until 5:30. It was a challenging day for all, but thes
e young refs and old guys like Wolf and I were professionals the whole day. Tim Lipscomb had the head official duty along with four referees representing the West. Later, two more referees were added for the matches–TRTRR’s own Ted Hill and STRR/West referee, Greg Varnell.

Greg was tapped to get a run and did an outstanding job in the middle with the whistle. STRR officials, John McConnell and Mike Geach, looked on like proud uncles as Greg’s professional approach to the game was very obvious. A young man, such as Greg Varnell is very passionate about being an outstanding referee for the game.

Greg’s other passions include his young family…girls ages, 2, 4 and 6, and his job. Greg and I spoke about the conflicts that exist at this time between STRR and TRU…and while we may not see what has transpired in our union through the same lens…we both agreed that Rugby is the players’ sport. He is committed to STRR but looks forward to refereeing this summer.

It was a fresh start to have STRR, the West Referees, and TRTRR all together under one tent with one goal in mind; development of rugby referees.

We, at TRTRR embrace openness to the exponential growth of rugby refereeing in Texas. We have 36 members with USA Rugby as part of our wonderful growth. The positive outcome this weekend–having STRR, TRTRR, the West Referees under the same tent, is a beginning step toward listening to the voices of the players and their interests in the great sport we love.

We will continue to focus on safety and fitness as we go into the fall season.