Dawn McKenzie, CARFU RS Referee Development and Retention Officer (RDRO), recently shared a development report with the society and there is a ton of great stuff in the works! In addition to sharing some recent promotions, she informed society members that they will be sent their current grade levels so they are aware.
Dawn shared that she will be continuing to lead the biweekly coaches meetings that began this past spring. Referees can expect coaches to be assigned periodically to matches to support their ongoing development, and due to the recent divisional promotion of several Chicago teams as well as some higher level referees stepping down or moving, there will be more opportunity this fall for referees to be assigned “stretch matches.”
As far as ongoing education opportunities, USA Rugby will be hosting a monthly webinar series to discuss topics relevant to the game (registration information can be found here). We are also working to continue out UIC Sport Psychology partnership after a successful spring workshop! Referees were asked to journal about the positives and negatives of each match experience and performance in preparation for an upcoming follow-up workshop.
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re interested in getting more involved in the society!