Manchester Exchange 2007
Colin had We got back about 7pm in time to watch Scotland play Italy then we found out that the hotel did not have itv4 we were devastated we had dinner I had a running commentary on the game from my wife on the phone it was funny great night went to bed at 120am. Got up in morning with headache had breakfast and felt better. Great weekend I would like to thank Colin and bill from
New York Exchange 2007
The Annual exchange with New York Referees Society this year was made by the two Hawick referees of, David Crudge and me, Malcolm McEwan.
The start of the week long trip was a presentation to the New York Society in the famous Chrysler Building about where refereeing was going in Scotland and at what level both referees had achieved to date. After the presentation, and with our good ladies, we had the priviledge to go out on the 61st floor balcony where 8m long Silver Gargoyles protrude from this iconic building. This was a real privilege as the public are not allowed here as it is a private attorney's office. Luckily one of the attorney's was a NY referee.
The next day we set of for Lake Placid/Lake Saranac which along with a puncture on the freeway took around 8 hours, longer than our flight from Edinburgh!
The tournament starts on the Friday taking in the age group games i.e 40+, 45+ and 50+.This allows the older guys to recover for finals day on the Sunday.
The referees have to go to a cafe in Saranac town to recieve their appointments for the day.If you do not make breakfast you get no appointments. This sounds fair until you are told you have to be there for 6.15!
On the Friday both David and myself refereed one game each and were surprised at the fitness level of these so called "older brigade". They took this tournament very serious.
The only Yellow Card of the day was issued by David to a prop playing for a team called The Myths And Legends from Ontario. The player in question protested his innocence with the phrase "a dinnae meenit, a jist missed timed eet". As he left the field he noticed me and said "Mackie McEwan what are ee daen here" to which I replied "watching a Jethart man being sent off again". The player in question was Brian Lyle ex Jed No8!
The Saturday was the big Qualifying day with the Tournament being set up with different level games for both Men and Women. (Over 90 teams competing). The premier was equivalent to our Prem3 level (bottom); The Social was National 1- 2 level and the Alumni being National 3. The ladies game is a far higher standard than over here with NY v Boston having 17 of the American Eagles Ladies team players.
David refereed 2 Premier games and 1 Social while I refereed 1 Premier, 1 Social and 1 Premier Ladies.All at temperatures of 90F! Our biggest enemy being dehydration. We also touch judged twice each in this searing heat. The Saturday night included a bbq with the other 30 odd referees.David had been assessed that day by two of the USA's top assessors and the reports that came back were very positive.
The Sunday was finals day with the main finals being held at the University Bowl. A ground much like Mansfield Park, but without the stand.
David was awarded the Social Final and most of the referees present agreed that this had been achieved on merit and not jst because he was an exchange referee. The final was a tight game, which required a lot of refereeing, but was handled with great ease by David and was a credit to the BRRS.
After a slightly easier return to NY we enjoyed 3 days of sightseeing with the company of both Judha and Pat our friends who were over here in the Borders on the last exchange.
Although the refereeing and sightseeing of Manhattan was brilliant our lasting memories of our trip will be the friendship mase within our "Refereeing Family". The welcome and hospitality shown by our American counterparts is simply amazing with several invitations to referee all over the USA and Canada. The NY Society are the perfect hosts with several of their members showing true friendship and absolutely nothing was a problem.
To the membership of the BRRS, do not let this exchange die. To eat, sleep amd live rugby for 3 days, with like minded people, is an experience that few referees have the privilege of experiencing. We must also continue to be the perfect hosts when ournext guests arrive as the NY Referees continually praise the hospitality of the Border Folk.
If you are lucky enough to be selected for this exchange I will say ......... YOU HAVE TO BE FIT ..... As 4 - 5 refereeing appointments with 3 - 4 touch judge duties over a 3 day period is very strenuous especially in the hight temperatures we experienced.
If for any reason you are selected and cannot go please phone ME!
Mackie
