A large number of refereed matches in the last two and a half seasons
The refferies have really had a lot of work in the past. Although rugby was dormant in most of Europe during the corona virus pandemic, it is not here. The Rugby Federation of Serbia made an effort to maintain all the planned competitive activities, and that was done at a high level. The reffs had the opportunity to gain experience on the home stage in all competitions, from the youngest U12s to the big Finals. That is exactly how a lot of refereed matches and tournaments were won.
7s rugby Conference 1
A very important competition for our reffs. Around the tournament itself in the last two years, special attention has been paid to the development and education of domestic reffs. A very important base of young reffs was created last year, whose experience is growing from year to year. We must especially point out that for two years now, at the Conference 1 tournament in Belgrade, our refferies have done a really great job. And not only that, but they have gained valuable experience, which will be applied to domestic competitions. They had the opportunity to watch and participate in a large number of matches, where they watched as international colleagues do reffereeing matches.
International activities
At the beginning of the year, an agreement was made with the Hungarian Rugby Federation regarding the exchange of referees. So, in the middle of March, our three judges had the opportunity to reffereeing the match of the Hungarian Championship. The reffs’ organization told us that a similar agreement was made in principle with the Romanian, Bulgarian and Croatian federations. A great opportunity for our referees to gain additional experience, and to get acquainted with the level of rugby in neighboring countries.
Rugby Europe tournaments
In addition to our Conference 1 tournament, our reffs have taken part in several other tournaments across Europe. Nemanja Babić had the opportunity to reffereeing the matches at the Rugby 7 Conference 2 tournament, which took place in Malta. Marija Stojsic, Relja Bulajic and Aleksandar Lelik were part of the Trophy tournament held in Budapest. While Mihailo Marjanović will reffereeing the U18 rugby 7 tournament which will be held in Latvia. Next season, we hope to be even more numerous in refereeing activities. We also hope that in rugby 15 our referees will get the opportunity to gain additional experience.
Why not apply to be a rugby referee?
We have always had problems with the number of reffs, for various reasons. But one reason was very striking. And that is respect for the referee by the players and coaches in the matches. It is really a burning problem of our rugby, not only ours, but we want to focus on our house. Unfortunately, football behavior prevails in our country, where every referee’s decision is called into question, most often by coaches. That indiscipline flows from the coach to the player. This is not rugby behavior. It is street behavior that has no place on rugby pitches and rugby matches. And most importantly, the Federation has finally begun to protect judges and punish such offenses
Since the practice of sanctioning began, the situation with the number of referees in our rugby has improved. This positive trend must be maintained. If you think that you are capable of being a rugby referee, and that is not an easy job, nor is it for anyone, we advise you to contact the Rugby Federation of Serbia.
It is important that every new recruit who wants to be a refferee must be familiar with all the positive and negative things that await him. To be sure that he will be protected on and off the field. Only in this way will he gain the confidence to develop, learn and progress. There are problems, but we think that there are far more beautiful things, which is why you should start your career as a refferee. The most beautiful thing is for sure that you influence and develop together with young rugby players. We can’t think of a better reason
3 takeaways for the fall season
Physical fitness testing
Reffs must be physically fit. There must be criteria that will be respected regarding physical fitness. Before the start of the season, a physical test must be prepared and it must be made clear to the referees what is expected of them. In order to make the best possible referee decision on the field, you have to be as close as possible to the situation around which the decision is made, in order to achieve that, you have to respond to physical demands. We think this testing would be extremely productive.
Reffs video analysis
In an interview with Aleksandar Nedeljković, video analysis was placed as one of the foundations of faster learning. Our opinion is that the reffs should copy Alexander’s model and send all the positive and negative moments of the reffereeing through video analysis. The best way to see how well you are doing or whether you have made a good decision is to look at the video and see what you have been doing specifically. Our opinion is that the Refferee Organization should hold such meetings once a month.
Education, education and education
According to us, a level 1 seminar for a refferees should be held at least once a year. In addition to that basic level, it is necessary to make a strategy of what the development path of each new refferee will look like. We think that this strategy is crucial, if we want to have a large number of quality reffs, we must not allow ourselves to manage personnel spontaneously. If we have a strategy for developing reffs, we think we will be on a very good path.
In addition to the levels awarded by the educators of the World Rugby, it is necessary to organize professional workshops. To hire experts two or three times a year who will maintain workshops for our reffs. We had the opportunity to see this workshops at the U18 internship held in Zagreb, where several of our young reffs took part.. No matter what level you are at, always be ready to learn and improve your knowledge.
