Chief Referee Post Vacant

Lads and Lasses, in case you didn't know; thought I'd pass this on.....

Chief Referee
Submitted by shosken on 28 January, 2010 - 14:22
Announcements Refereeing
It is with great regret that I must announce that with effect from 23rd January 2010 Andy Dancer, our Chief Referee, has resigned from the Canoe Polo Committee. At this time the post is vacant and any enquiries regarding refereeing matters should, for the time being, be directed to Curly Barker.

Andy has worked very hard over the past few years to improve the refereeing structure within our domestic sport. He has built on the work of Paul Hammond and Paul Beverley who previously held this role. Andy has set up and run a number of successful refereeing weekends, has been involved with providing courses at events such as BUSA (now known as BUCS) and has sought to encourage people into refereeing by taking a firm stance against abuse to referees by following through on red cards and implementing sanctions with the full support of the Polo Committee.

Internationally Andy has worked supporting the GB Squads with their refereeing obligations and has worked with the ICF Refereeing Committee.

As with his predecessors Andy has invested a substantial amount of his time and effort fulfilling this role for which he has received little thanks and has often met with strong criticism and abuse. Whilst this was not the only factor involved in Andy's resignation it has played a large part in his decision.

As Chairman I find it incredibly frustrating that we are losing excellent calibre volunteers in this manner. Andy's decision, whilst regrettable, is understandable but has left a hole in our sport which will be difficult to fill. If we wish to avoid continuing to lose the help of volunteers then we must, as a whole sport, review and improve our own attitude towards our referees, league organisers and other officials.

If you wish to assist in running the sport in relation to any of our vacant posts (please see Committee Vacancies page) then please contact the Secretary.

Samantha Hosken
Chairman

[
Thanks Andy
new
Submitted by Ivan.Thorn on 29 January, 2010 - 12:35.
Whilst I have not always agreed with Andy's views, I do respect both the time and commitment he has given the sport and the fact he is/was always prepared to stand up for his opinions.

It is a shame that, reading between the lines, some individual(s) have again managed to successfully remove someone that cares about the sport from a position of responsibility.

Personally, I didn't much care for many of the "new" rules initially, but a couple of seasons in, you know what, they are non-too-bad.

So, thanks for the time, effort and achievements Andy, and all the best in the future. I'm sure we'll be back to sparring and disagreeing both on and off the water again in no time.

Regards

Ivan

Thanks for posting this Ivan I for one was unaware.

It is a shame your right and Andy Dancer has put loads of effort into the sport. I for one think the improvements he has made to both the rules and the support for referees are extremely valuable. It is often a thankless job and actually I think he has done good work.

I know many of us have had our problems with Andy but these have not been about his overall commitment and dedication in these areas we are thankful.