Camanachd Association | |
Camanachd Association Send Referees Warning To Clubs. | |
20 September 2008 The Camanachd Association has written to all shinty clubs asking for their support in encouraging members and supporters to show due respect for the often difficult task undertaken by referees in their game. This action has been taken following the decision taken by John MacLeod of Skye to retire from shinty refereeing. This decision follows the recent resignation of another well known referee, Calum Duff. John Macleod, a committed supporter of the game of shinty and a referee that went out of his way to assist the Camanachd Association through his flexibility and willingness to take on extra games to assist in managing the fixture calendar, indicated his wish to step back from being a shinty referee following unacceptable levels of criticism by a small minority through a web site forum. John’s talents as a referee however were regularly recognisedby the Clubs on their weekly referee reports. John’s decision follows on from the recent decision of Calum Duff to stop refereeing. Both gentlemen were recently subject to criticism which was completely out of proportion. Referees, along with most of the population, freely admit to making honest mistakes and clearly do not deserve to be treated in an inappropriate way, especially by people who hide behind fictional names on websites. The Camanachd Association Director (Officials) Ian MacPhee said, “I am most concerned that we should lose two of our top referees due to the actions and abuse both they and their families have been subjected too during and after recent matches and through a web-site forum. This intolerable behaviour has to be curbed; otherwise it will drive more referees away from our game. I would urge all clubs to take a stand to ensure that all officials are treated with the respect they deserve." The Camanachd Referees Association President Donald Fraser agreed, “The Camanachd Referees Association is working closely with the Camanachd Association to look at ways to improve the performance and recruitment of referees. Referees are an integral part of the game of shinty and are involved, just like most volunteers, because they want to support a game they feel passionate about. The shinty community needs to work together for the good of the game” The Camanachd Association continue to be committed to making improvements to the standards of referees, coaches and players and work is underway to develop Performance Working Groups to look at developments relating to referees, coaches and players. The letter to clubs read: It is with regret that the Camanachd Association has to inform the Shinty community of the retirement of referee John MacLeod. John has been a committed supporter of shinty and the Camanachd Association for many years and has been very flexible and accommodating when asked to change games, times or even take on two games in one day. John’s talents as a referee have also been recognised by the clubs when returning their referee reports - as he has consistently achieved above average marks and is placed in the “Good Performance” category.
John’s decision follows on from the recent decision by Calum Duff to stop refereeing. Both gentlemen were subject to criticism which was completely out of proportion. Referees, along with most of the population, freely admit to making honest mistakes and clearly do not deserve to be treated in an inappropriate way, either from the sidelines or by people who hide behind fictional names on websites. The Camanachd Association is clearly concerned to lose two top referees due to the actions and abuse that both they and their families have been subjected to during and after recent matches and through forums on web-sites. This intolerable behaviour has to be curbed; otherwise it will drive even more referees away from our game. This is a really concerning development at a time when we desperately need to recruit new referees and provide them with the time and support they need to continue and develop into their important role. The Association would urge all clubs to take a stand to ensure that all officials of our game are treated with respect as set out in Bye-Law 5, Codes of Conduct.
The Camanachd Association remain fully committed to making improvements to the standards of referees, coaches and players. We would like to make these improvements in partnership with our member clubs and associations and three invitations to join Performance Working Groups covering Referees, Coaches and Players have been sent out, and placed on the website, over the course of the summer. The response to these invitations has been disappointingly low therefore we are now inviting targeted individuals to join these important groups.
If on reading this anyone within your club would now like to volunteer and play a part in improving Performance levels please contact me on 01463 71593.1
Taken from www.shinty.com
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