NATIONAL REFEREE SEMINAR

46 referees from every corner of Ireland attended the national Referee Seminar on Saturday. The seminar was delivered by Croke Park staff Paula Prunty, Karen Togher and Lynn Savage (pictured).
First thing was a review of 2010. Referees were divided into groups and each then provided the seminar with a list of positives for the year gone by and a list of items were improvements could be made. This generated some lively debate and a lot of positives came out of this session.

The next section related to referee assessments. Last year 17 assessors were trained however only about 10 of them are active. A total of 28 games were assessed and a good discussion ensued on the merits of assessments and suggestions were made to improve matters. Karen also made a plea to all referees, that if they knew of an ex referee or someone interested in becoming an assesor to get in touch with her.It is also intended to set up a National Panel of linespeople and umpires. A
training day for same will be organised later in the year.

The rule refresher part of the day took the form of a table quiz.
Referees were paired with fellow whistlers from a different province and then had to work as a team. After a series of questions it emerged that the smartest refereees on the day were Paul Swift (Monaghan) and Des Mc Inry (Westmeath). The table quiz was very enjoyable however quizmaster Lynn Savage will need to work on her ‘Keeping Control’ skills.

The day finished with a very pleasant meal and a presentation of medals to all the referees who took charge of All Ireland