MID HERTS REFEREES’ ASSOCIATION
Meeting held at the Shamrock Club
5thDecember 2013
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1. Present & Apologies. There were 19members present and 10 apologies for absence. Chairman Suresh Pulandaran (SP) chaired the meeting and Roy Williams (RW) took the minutes.
2. New Members
There were no new members this month but the Chairman went out of his way to welcome Peter Shepherd to the meeting after a lengthy absence.
3. Minutes of last meeting
These were accepted as correct by Peter Gaylardand Bill Dance
4. Matters arising,
None
5. Report from Secretary
In Bill Henderson’s absence Suresh reported that the next meeting will be held on 9 January (not 2 January) and that fish (or chicken) & chips will be available upon payment of £5.50. There3 will also be a presentation from Steve Bates our Level 3 member.
6. Report from Treasurer
John Fearnsreported no change to account, £552.69p. The account signatories had been updated at the bank. John said he would like to discuss the issue of membership at a meeting in the New Year. The Society was proposing to purchase a second hand microphone from the University of Herts for about £15 or so.
7. Report from County RA Committee
Charlie Willson (CW) reported from the meeting held on 25 November. The County Quiz would be hosted by Hemel Society at Hemel Hempstead Town FC on 13 February. This year it would be a general knowledge quiz.
Referee Academies were now running at Watford FC, Stevenage Borough and Harvesters FC.
The FA had concluded that County FAs could charge candidates a fee to enter the promotion system but that this should be returned to everyone who completed the full requirements, regardless of their success or otherwise. The FA had also reaffirmed its policy that referees at County level should wear only black shirts and that clubs should be dissuaded from adopting dark colours that would clash with the match officials’ shirts.
An assault in Waltham Cross was under investigation.
Like the vast majority of counties Hertfordshire’s RA memberships were down. The MHRA has 15 paid up members compared to 24 last season.
The ongoing review of the national RA constitution would be the subject of a meeting early in the New Year.
Charlie asked that we make a decision about sending a team to the County Quiz. It was agreed that we would pay our deposit anyway and decide next month about the make-up of the team.
8. Report from League Reps
Bert Dearman (BD) reported that the County Leaguerepresentative XI were next due to play the Surrey Elite League at Corinthian Casuals on Saturday next. This is the QF of the inter-league competition.
Bill Dance (BD) W&H reported that Ted Ellis had thanked him for the card from MHRA members and that he had finished his chemotherapy. Two more clubs had resigned leaving the Premier Division with just 6 teams who would now play each other 4 times this season. Terry Izzard had stepped down as Referees Secretary with immediate effect and a replacement was to be named soon.
Bill Hamilton (SSML)informed colleagues that the next League Association meeting would be on 27 January at Tring and would feature the FA’s chief Sports Psychologist. The pooling of referees with those on the Essex Senior League list was still at the planning stage with a view to implementation next season.
9. Report from Management Committee
Suresh reported from the meeting held on28 November. Consideration was being given to presenting newly qualified referees who attended meetings with a whistle and match cards and possibly a referee’s top after they had come to 5 meetings. The Society was looking to put on a fund-raising event next year.
10. Report from Training Officer
Roy Williams (RW) reported that all 21 candidates had passed the recent course held at North Herts College. In response from a query from Bill Hamilton RW said he did not know what the latest retention figures were but would seek to find out more from Phil sharp (our County RDO).
11. AOB
None.
12. Points of View
At the instigation of the Chairman a lively discussion on racism took place. Although few in the room had experienced racist incidents in games all were clear that there was no grey area in terms of tolerating or dealing with racist comments or insults. Such Offensive/Insulting/Abusive language was a red card offence. We went on to discuss whether a red card should be issued if a player called the referee “a cheat”. Martin de la Fuente was clear that this was offensive and that not dealing with it via a red card would seriously undermine the referee’s authority. Most colleagues agreed with this.
After the interval Peter Gaylard entertained everyone with a devilishly tricky football quiz delivered in his inimitable style – a good time was had by all especially Neil Crafer who was the overall winner.
The Meeting closed at 22.00 Hrs. The next meeting will be on the 9thJanuary 2014when Steve Bates will make a presentation and fish & chips will be available to those willing to pay the £5.50 cost.
The Chairman wished everyone present a Happy Christmas and offered his best wishes for the New Year.
RW/1213