Introduction

Random and unofficial insights and happenings at Football Tournaments nationally from the officials perspective

Thursday, August 27, 2015

2015 Football Brisbane Referee Finals Appointments




Hi Everyone,

Well it's late into Wednesday night, but I figured a quick post from tonight's Senior referee meeting, where the Finals referees were announced.  29 Referee Final appointments from 179 senior referees, it was a tough job by Ted and the Coaching Panel with stronger performances from the lower "weekend warriors" this year making their job more difficult.  A great problem to have in a refereeing branch anywhere.

So here's the list, with changes only likely if referees become unavailable.  A few Kanga Alumni noted and if they were involved last year, what game is indicated.
Assistant Referees to be appointed.

Football Brisbane Referees August meeting

U/18 Division 4 - Ryan Mooney




U/18 Division 3 - Patrick Dwyer

U/18 Division 2 - Brad Burton (Kanga Cup Alumni 2012)

U/18 Division 1 - Dylan Lambert (Kanga Cup Alumni 2012, stepping up from U/18 Div 2 last year)


U/20 - David Snape (Kanga Cup Alumni 2010)

City 7 Silver - Jeff Luhrs

City 7 Blue - Jose Neves (City 6 Blue last year)

City 6 Silver - Andrew McGrath

City 6 Blue - Derek Smith

City 5 Silver - Craig Reid

City 5 Blue - Steve Smailes (repeats same final from 2014)

City 4 Silver - Shame Holdsworth (repeats same final from 2014)

City 4 Blue - Tony Mortenson (Capital 3 Reserves in 2014)

City 3 - Jim Roddy

City 2 - Phil Tracey (Capital 4 Reserves in 2014)

City 1 - Joseph Lee (Kanga Cup Alumni 2009, Capital 1 Reserves referee in 2014)



Capital 4 Reserves - Duncan Mansfield

Capital 4 - Trent Sleeman

Capital 3 Reserves - Mathew Male (U/18 Div 1 in 2014)

Capital 3 - John Vasiliadis (City League Cup in 2014)

Capital 2 Reserves - Daniel Olsen (Kanga Cup Alumni 2012, U/18 Div 3 in 2014)



Capital 2 Adam Kersey 

Capital 1 Reserves - Isidro Terol Crespo (TPL U/18 in 2014)

Capital 1 - Casey Reibelt (SEQ Womens Premier League in 2014)


Canale Travel Cup - Paul Eldridge 















City League Cup - Jake Beith


Trophy Superstore Premier League - U/18 Cameron Fawcett









Trophy Superstore Premier League Reserves - Lara Smith (SEQ Womens Div 1 in 2014)


Trophy Superstore Premier League First - Nathan Macdonald (repeats same final from 2014)

Champions of Champions - TBC


Congratulations to everyone selected and best of luck to all Third teams over the Semi Finals and Finals in the coming weeks.   Great to again see KangaCup Alumni featuring in the Brisbane Finals and progressing well in National panels in the coming NYL season.

How has your end of season been?  Did you get the finals appointments you deserved or were you surprised?  Did Kanga Cup participation have a effect on your final 6 weeks of the season?

I'd love to hear your stories....

Enjoy your finals

KangaCupRef



Sunday, August 9, 2015

2015/16 Hyundai Aleague Referee Panels

Good evening everyone,

Here's the coming seasons HAL/ WLeague and FNYL panels released on Friday.  

As usual, I've listed the #futureelite referees first as they are the focus on this blog
Some alumni names from Kanga Cup appearing again - Daniel Olson, Aaron Galanti


Foxtel National Youth League 2015/16 Panel List


  • Adam Powers  ACT
  • Alex Twomey ACT
  • Alex Merkel   NNSW
  • Cameron Burns NNSW
  • Stephen Laurie NNSW
  • Adam Vainauskas NSW
  • Samuel Grasso NSW 
  • Matthew McOrist NSW 
  • Patrick Telecki NSW
  • Timothy Danaskos NSW
  • Cameron Fawcett QLD 
  • Daniel Olson QLD 
  • Matthew Male QLD 
  • Zac Keenan QLD
  • Aaron Galanti SA
  • Andrew Kite SA
  • Daniel Cook SA
  • Samuel Kuys SA
  • James Hortle TAS
  • Daniel Ilievski VIC
  • Jordan English VIC
  • Oliver Bannister VIC
  • Adam Bavcar VIC
  • Lachlan Keevers VIC
  • Joshua Nixon WA
  • Tom Dowle WA
  • Zach Piccicacco WA


Numbers on this panel are down from last season (43), due primarily to a restructure and reduction of the NYL to just ten rounds and consequently as a developmental phase a smaller group is necessary.  This restructure is clearly inline with the recently announced 20 year plan, where the NYL's place in the competition structure is aligned under the NPL as the 2nd tier of football in Australia and as a stage of development, not necessarily just a step below the Aleague panel.  So perhaps those not on the reduced list need to concentrate on NPL matches?

Westfield W-League 2015/16 Panel Lists


Westfield W-League Referees (8)


  • Kirralee Andruschak NNSW
  • Rebecca Durcau QLD
  • Kate Jacewicz VIC
  • Kelly Jones NSW
  • Rachel Mitchenson QLD
  • Katie Patterson NSW
  • Casey Reibelt QLD
  • Lara Smith QLD


Referees panel remains unchanted from last season, reflecting the consistency of this high performing group.  Qld referees still very strong within this group.

Westfield W-League Assistant Referees (14)


  • Danielle Anderson VIC - Kanga Cup Alumni, returner to the panel I believe from Shepparton
  • Avrol Beecham QLD 
  • Isabella Blaess SA - new to panel
  • Joanna Charaktis VIC 
  • Renae Coghill QLD
  • Lily David NSW
  • Delfina Dimoski ACT 
  • Sarah Drake QLD 
  • Allyson Flynn ACT
  • Eleanor Hayes NNSW 
  • Sarah Ho NSW
  • Laura Moya VIC - new to panel
  • Nia Southwell ACT - Kanga Cup Alumni
  • Sarah Wikeley TAS - new to panel


Westfield W-League 4th Official (2)

Maddison Kennedy SA
Liz Shorter NSW


Hyundai A-League 2015/16 Panel Lists


Hyundai A-League Referees (11)


  • Chris Beath QLD - Kanga Cup Alumni
  • Matthew Conger NZ
  • Strebre Delovski NSW
  • Shaun Evans VIC
  • Adam Fielding WA
  • Jarred Gillett QLD - Kanga Cup Alumni
  • Peter Green QLD
  • Kris Griffith-Jones NSW
  • Stephen Lucas NSW
  • Alan Milliner QLD
  • Ben Williams ACT

The top panel drops two (Lucien Laverdure VIC and Peter O'Leary NZ, retired).  Presumably out of this panel three will be selected for the full time positions, expected to be announced just before the season kicks off.

Hyundai A-League Assistant Referees (29)


  • Ashley Beecham QLD - Kanga Cup Alumni
  • Luke Brennan VIC
  • Wilson Brown VIC - new to panel
  • Paul Cetrangolo SA
  • Mathew Cheeseman WA
  • James Cleal NNSW - new to panel
  • Matthew Cream SA
  • Scott Edeling NSW
  • Allyson Flynn ACT
  • Ryan Gallagher NNSW
  • Andrej Giev NSW
  • Owen Goldrick ACT - Kanga Cup Alumni
  • Lance Greenshields NSW
  • Brad Hobson VIC
  • Sarah Ho NSW
  • George Lakrindis VIC
  • Andrew Lindsay QLD
  • Glen Lochrie NZ
  • Simon Lount NZ - new to panel
  • Nathan MacDonald QLD
  • Josh Mannella WA
  • Leigh Pigram NSW
  • Kearney Robinson NSW - new to panel
  • Mark Rule NZ
  • Anton Shchetinin QLD
  • Greg Taylor ACT
  • James Tesoriero NSW
  • Stephen Toth SA - new to panel
  • David Walsh QLD

The AR panel has the most movements effectively, with Hakan Anaz VIC retired after a successful World Cup performance in 2014, Jonathan Barreiro VIC moving to the 4th panel and it appears to have 5 new rookies making the step up.

Hyundai A-League 4th Officials (8)


  • Jonathan Barreiro VIC
  • Matthew Cropper ACT
  • Daniel Elder SA
  • Alex King QLD
  • Lucien Laverdure VIC
  • Trent Nash NNSW - new to panel
  • Rick Schneider SA
  • Luke Withell ACT

The 4ths panel drops down from 10, with effectively 1 per state.  Analysis of this group is difficult, as the top 11 referees are effectively a strong group with many years ahead of them and certainly several have goals to achieve higher games in AFC and FIFA in the next few years, so this panel may need to be patient.  But with only 8, they are likely to be kept busy

With 8 FIFA Referees and 13 FIFA Assistant Referees currently in the ranks in both Aleague and Wleague competitions, the quality of the game facilitation in the coming year is in good hands.

Congratulations to everyone who have worked hard to maintain or join the panels for 2015/16 - good luck with your season.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

2010 the Missing Year?

Morning everyone,
It's amazing what triggers you to start looking back inorder to look forward.
Whilst reviewing the Flickr feed of old pictures for some of David London I noticed, not for the first time, that nothing existed from 2010.  No album, no pictures on my current or last laptop and so I started digging around old USB drives and came upon a treasure trove of now dated but interesting pictures from five years ago.
Kanga Cup Referees 2010
Carotel Refs HQ 2010

And what a year it was - the Carotel Year I like to call it, or they year we went missing in north Canberra.  It had it all - Peter Walton, who was still on the English Premier League visited, mentored and stayed with the group, including a star performance covering a U/11 SSG game - it really happened.
Peter Walton Referees 2010
Peter Walton, David Ockerby, Heather Reid at Opening Ceremony

This year included the first visit from a foreign referee, Luke Grinstead from the UK.  Couldn't find any pictures of Luke in the ones I've found, but I'm certain they're out there somewhere.

Certainly a year for many highs and some lows I won't mention here, but it's interesting to now look back 5 years at the faces and think about where you were then and where you are now.


Kanga Cup Referees 2010
Kanga Cup Referees @ Opening Ceremony 2010
I asked this same question to the QSS U/12's State Championship referee group in Brisbane two weeks ago (sucker for referee camps).  For most of them it was their first time away representing their region and participating in a live away tournament.  The question on the last night was, where do you see yourself in 5 years with your refereeing?
Many of the answers were positive, some uncertain and a few perhaps will need some review along the way.  But they all had a excited vision, a goal to work towards and for many of them, 5 years is perhaps too long into the future, almost another quarter of their lives yet to be lived.  But it passes quickly.

So my question today, whilst I reflect on memories of people and places, have you realized your dreams and goals from 2010?  Or if that's too far away, finals are just around the corner for most of us - will you get the final / semifinal game you expected / deserved this year?  Was there a definite goal / desire and commitment to get that outcome reached this season?  Did you seek excellence this season, or was it just another year refereeing?
Or is it still on the bucket list?  And if so, why?

As Stevie sang, there's only five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes...how do you measure a year?


Enjoy the additional 184 photos I've uploaded - I have some videos of faces and Peter's presentation that I might upload when I get some more time.












Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Vale David London

Hello Friends,

It's with a heavy heart that I pass along the sad news that David London, Kanga Cup Academy alumni coach / assessor / Interstate Referees Coordinator has passed away on Sunday night.
David London 2011 Kanga Cup
In control at O'Connor 2011

David joined the adult assessing crew from 2008, along with his son Matthew participating as a referee from the Hunter Valley branch of Northern New South Wales.














David's time with the Academy included the transitional period, where the referees attending Kanga Cup went from being a social event with some refereeing during the day, the away years travelling at the Scots College / Carotell to 2011 when it became an Academy structure with improvements in educational values and under David's sometime firm teaching hand a more professional approach to referee development and administration began.


Opening Ceremony 2008

Coaches Dinner Out 2008


2008

David's influence was most notable at O'Connor fields, a venue he made his own with many SSG and U/12's taking place, usually in the role of Referees Coordinator.  His friendly, calm personality allowed strong bonds to form with the tournaments star teams, notability Adelaide City and Shingok, with the team's coaches always remembering to say Hi and handshakes all round each year they played at O'Connor and enviably during the finals.

Field inspections 2011

Lunch time at O'Connor


Admin 2012
The two David's together 2012

Cleaning up after the referees O'Connor


David took a year off after the 2012 tournament, attending a wedding in 2013 but I remember him calling at some point on Friday night at the coaches debrief missing the action from the week with my phone being passed around all the coaches so that everyone could say hi and retell the tall stories from the weeks competition.

The NNSW Football notice is here and the Celebration of David's life is at the Maitland City Bowling Club this Friday 7th August at 10am Memorial Notice.  I'll be attending to represent those who can't from Brisbane and the greater Kanga Cup family and would be happy to pass along any pictures or stories you may have of David.

We'll miss you mate, take care.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Clattenburg arrives in Brisbane

Evening everyone,

Well it's finally happened, after ten years of work to get him here by Ted Kearney, Mark Clattenburg has landed and was in the QSAC Javelin meeting room earlier this evening in Brisbane, mixing it up with the local Football Brisbane senior referees during their regular July Coaching night.

Ted Kearney and Mark Clattenburg
A good turnout of 70 local referees arrived early and filled the venue, in anticipation of both seeing and hearing from Mark, who flew up from Melbourne today after last nights #ICC match.

Mark's schedule whilst here is action packed - His presenting a day long seminar Thursday at the Sleeman Sports Centre to a capacity crowd of referees (with participants from New Zealand and across Australia flying in)
Paul Smith and some of the NZ crew
Presenters with Mark include Eddie Lennie  (FIFA / AFC Instructor / Assessor, Football Wests Referee Development Manager), Krys Szokolai (FIFA & AFC Assessor / Instructor), covering a range of topics (Respect, Dissent, Player Management, Requirements of Elite Referees, Fitness, Positioning, Foul Recognition)

Friday has Mark attending the U/15 Queensland Schools State Titles at Tivoli, no doubt creating some excitement for the Future Elite referees in the making.  He has an official dinner engagement then a Charity Golf Day on Saturday, resting up for Sunday's big game at Lions Stadium 4pm.

Tonight Mark took part in drawing out the Assistant Referees and 4th Official for the match from within the Select Group of referees in Brisbane, an excellent experience for those selected to work with someone at the top of their game in the EPL

Whilst tonight's meet and greet was very informal and Mark wasn't expected to be presenting, he was still keen to get involved in the discussions about "The A in Assistant Referee", facilitated by Ashley and helping groups to determine what "Great" assistant referees roles look like.
Cameron and Mark brainstorming

His insights (and a few EPL stories) provided both fresh perspectives to many in the room and contained very down to earth advice, even indicating at one point that "Keeping it Simple" is his takeaway from the evenings discussions and debate.  Really great to see that even though his one of the biggest names in the Football family, his really approachable and willing to be involved at grass roots level on a Wednesday night in suburban Brisbane with some of the local "weekend warriors".

Welcome to Brisbane Mark, enjoy your stay and have a great game on Sunday - I think the biggest group there will be cheering for the #thirdteam

And big shoutout to Ted and his friendship with Mark in getting him in the room - it's my biggest takeaway tonight (aside from this blog post / lots of pictures).  

Ted and Mark
It's the enduring nature of the positive relationships and strong friendships we all can make as referees during our journey around the field that has allowed Mark's visit to occur (and of course the ICC tournament helped).

Many of the strongest memories in my life are around the highs and lows of refereeing, almost always shared by supportive #thirdteam members, coaches, mentors and friends, who without being a refereeing colleague our paths would never have crossed.

Robert Frost (who must have blown a whistle once) said it best

"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."


I believe many peoples interactions with Mark during the next few days will make a significant positive difference in their careers and ideas around officiating, in not in their life generally, whether your next on the FIFA list, fighting for attention as a Possible or Probable or just enjoying the Sunday City League tussle weekly.  And that is the REAL value in why we do what we do every weekend.

Thanks Ted for inviting your friend and using your network, it'll be a weekend to remember.

Photos from tonight can be found on here on my Flickr account - feel free to cross post to FB - further updates over the next few days as I get time.





Sunday, July 5, 2015

2015 Kanga Cup - Saturday only 7 hours to go!!!!

Hey everyone,

Been a while since I visited the blogging world, busy with life I guess.  But as they say "we're back baby" for a bigger and better KangaCup 2015 or #KangaCup25 (it's the 25th occasion of Kanga Cup), so I'm trying to attempt to get it trending this week.

Busy day as always and it's already late, so just a few shoutouts of significance for those playing along at home

Everyone arrived safe, with referees from New Zealand taking the scenic route via Melbourne - pictures to follow when Smithy gives them to me in the morning

Longest traveled referee goes to Oskar, from Hong Kong via William Lai, coaching alumni and regular "visitor" on Grand Final Friday.  Rumor has it William will make an appearance on Thursday - your coaching sheets are ready William and we expect minimum of 10 before lunch completed please... Oskar is the first international referee back to the tournament in several years and seems to be fitting in already, so Welcome.
Bonus points for anyone who can name the last international (NZers don't count) referee.

A visit and tour to the Australia War Memorial before dinner, some fun icebreakers at the AIS involving skittles and Post-it notes (bill in your tray Alasdair) then back for the obligatory and now traditional 2014 in Review video - Lots of photobombing in 2014 by a cast member of the upcoming Mary Poppings and references to coffee consumption, plus the sound was double speed so it was the House version. I'll post when I've fixed the spelling errors, thanks David

Pictures on Flickr as normal, thanks to Scott Ferguson www.ausref.com for continued support of a photographic archive of Kanga Cup referees going back 11 years, unprecedented in youth tournament history.

Tomorrow we get to catch up with old friends from Capital Football and make new ones at the annual seminar, technical training (I'm running some sort of chasing the ball thing???), some shopping opportunities then onto the opening ceremony at the Stadium - I hope to live stream the event via Periscope whilst my hotspot lasts, so join us sometime after 3pm for all the action.  First time trying it, so I believe you can watch via a web browser  live if you don't have the app or download the app and join the conversation.  Follow me on the Twitter link @KangaCupRef

Guest speaker to be confirmed, details tomorrow.

Excited to be back and it's looking to be another great, if not cold week here in Canberra.

39 referees, 8 interstate / international coaches, 2 Capital Football coaches, 1 Capital Football Logistics guru all tucked up asleep - as am I in 10 minutes.

Might get up early and watch the Womens World Cup 3rd playoff at 6am - go England



Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Asian Cup 2015 Referees update

Afternoon all,

Hot off the presses from official sources Chris Beath (AUS, Kanga Cup Alumni) will officiate Match 13 Bahrain v UAE in Canberra tomorrow at 5pm AEDST.  Chris was originally just appointed as 4th official and was on Ben Williams first game IRN v BHR on Jan 11. No word yet on who is in his crew, update to follow.  Congratulations to Chris, no doubt he'll do a great job.



Kanga Cup 2002 © Scott Ferguson 

I briefly met the Saudi Arabian crew Monday afternoon as they were heading out for the stadium Jordan v Iraq.  Very excited and a friendly bunch, shaking all the volunteers hands present in the foyer.  It was great to see such a relaxed team just so happy to be here taking part.

Here's some pictures from the cheap seats taken in the lead up to the match




Saudi officials with Ref Liaison Greg and Match Assessor Eddie Lennie





Just before walkout - Reserve AR and 5th official
 The Asian Cup atleast in Brisbane is having the Reserve AR (5th official) sit to the right of the visitors benches, behind the AR1 line.



Referee having a nervous feel for his cards












Another game today but my alternate is working this one, but hope to get more pictures and impressions after Friday's Iraq v Japan blockbuster and also will have some more reports from the Australia game

Hope everyone's enjoying their Asian Cup referee spotting