Tasmyn Haynes, Simon Starr, Marcus Ross
It takes a massive amount of hard work and commitment to become certified as an International Wheelchair Rugby Referee, so it’s great to hear when new candidates achieve this milestone.
Well done Lucie Moravcovà, on becoming the first International Referee from the Czech Republic and to Marcus Ross, the latest GB Referee to achieve the high standard required. The path they had to tread was a challenging one. Firstly, they needed to be nominated by their home Governing Body as a candidate Referee. To even become a candidate, Referees need to have demonstrated over a significant period of time that they were capable of officiating at the highest levels.
On top of this, they had to pass both the fitness test and a rules test, set by WWR. The fitness test used is the Yo-Yo Test, similar to the Bleep Test that many of you will be familiar with, where you run shuttles over 20m and back at set speeds for a certain number of times, with the intervals getting shorter and shorter each time. You need to achieve Level 14.2, which is no mean feat and definitely not for the faint-hearted!
If that’s not enough, you must score 80% or more in the rules test, which tests your knowledge and interpretation of the International Rules and possible scenarios on and off the court. All of this happens before you even get invited to an International Tournament where you go through it all again. As well as having to pass the fitness test and the rules test, you also participate in the pre-tournament Chair Checks and then have your on-court performances assessed by a WWR Evaluator, all of which Lucie and Marcus did successfully, at the European B Championships held in Zaragoza, Spain at the end of May.
Their routes into Wheelchair Rugby were very different. Lucie came from a Basketball Refereeing background and after an approach from the Head Referee for Wheelchair Rugby to the Prague Basketball Referees Association, back in 2014, Lucie decided to ‘give it a go’ and the rest, as they say, is history. Conversely Marcus, a Military Physical Training Instructor, is used to coaching and refereeing many sports. His wife Vicky, was part of the GB Invictus Games team and he helped out at a Help 4 Heroes event in Plymouth, where his skills were recognised and the next thing he knew, he was on a Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby Fast-Track Refereeing Course led by Dave Woods, coincidentally the Head Official in Zaragoza.
Preparation for Zaragoza was pretty intense for both of them. Lucie, usually more of a cyclist and gym-goer, began running and practiced doing the old Bleep Test, then separately revised the International Rules and the WWR Referee Casebook. Similarly, Marcus started a Marathon Running Training programme, building up his endurance by daily sessions with the family dog running alongside, providing encouragement. As he pounded the pavements, his ear pods provided an audio soundtrack of the International Rules, a great example of multitasking! In addition, he refereed at a number of European events such as Bernd Best, Rugbymania and the Musholm Cup in Denmark. Wife Vicky also played regularly in the Polish Wheelchair Rugby Fives tournaments, so Marcus would referee in Poland and benefit from some excellent guidance and feedback from experienced international officials such as Lukasz Szymczak and Jarek Malec.
Both Lucie and Marcus were absolutely delighted to be told that they were now certified International Referees. “It’s hugely gratifying to be judged by your peers and I’m someone who really values feedback, both positive and negative”, stated Marcus. All of their hard work had paid off and Marcus is already looking ahead to applying for any International Tournaments that are circulated by WWR and any opportunities to expose himself to feedback in order to improve and grow as a Referee. Just recently, he has been part of a GB and Denmark Training Camp at Lilleshall, followed by a trip to Uganda to spread the gospel with a Welsh 5s Team. For Lucie, it’s a case of organising the Referees for Rugbymania, refereeing in the Czech and Polish Leagues and the thrill of a low point Tournament in Switzerland to look forward to.
There has been a wealth of very kind and heartfelt personal messages of congratulations for both Lucie and Marcus. “The news was received very positively within the Czech Wheelchair Rugby community. I received congratulations from the former Head Referee for the Czech Republic, players, fellow referees, and my boss. My achievement was also publicly acknowledged during a Czech League event. It was a reward for all the hard work and effort I’d put into the preparations, not only for me but also for the people who supported me and stood by me. In addition, I hope that Czech Wheelchair Rugby will become even more widely recognised in the rugby world” added Lucie. GBWR have recognised Marcus’s achievement on social media, which in turn prompted many more people, including all of his fellow GB Officials to say, ‘Well done!’.
Most memorable parts of the European B Championships for Marcus were being part of a Team of Officials drawn from across the globe and the great camaraderie between them all, the games where he made mistakes, which provided learning opportunities and his first game, which was in a great Stadium, with a great partner and making his first call, which was a really strong one, refusing a players’ Equipment request, which was merely an attempt to extricate himself from a tight situation. In a very similar vein for Lucie, it was all about being part of the Championships, working with other international referees and getting feedback after each game. It helped her to improve and made the whole experience even more valuable.
WWR is delighted to welcome Lucie and Marcus to the International fold and wishes them many years officiating at the highest levels.
Simon Starr
WWR Global Media Team
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