David “Bunny” Williamson
4 June 1946 – 29 June 2017
From Helen Marcus:
It is with great sadness that I write you of Dave’s death early Thursday morning at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. He was taken there Wednesday by the paramedics after a fall in his bedroom caused fractures in his spine and hip. We met with a palliative care doctor and discussed his options for treatment. Although Dave’s preference was for “comfort care” rather than any extraordinary intervention, he was open to exploring having a pin put in his hip to stabilize him. It would have been a long recovery process. Instead his heart stopped, likely in response to the stress of the fall. Marcus and Shaylene came immediately. Tyler flies in Sunday. It will be good to have them all together.
Dave’s instructions upon his demise are to hold a rock & roll party at the Faculty Club. I’ll let you know as plans take shape.
Dave graduated CAL in criminology after rowing for 4 years. He then headed to Hastings Law School. However his legal education was interrupted by two years in the Navy stationed in San Diego. In 1971, he restarted at Hastings and signed up for the law school rugby team in his second year. As a tall, graceful, athletic man, he was a perfect second row, despite his moniker of “Bunny”. The team quickly became a focal point for him and his college sweet heart and ultimately wife, Helen, who also played second row for SF Women’s Rugby team. After graduation and passing the bar, he joined PG&E’s law department where he initially handled environmental cases and later construction litigation. A seemingly patient quiet lawyer at work, he came alive on the Hasting Rugby team on and off the field, as a fire-eating player and a boisterous singer at the post match parties. Rugby he declared, was a lot more fun than rowing!
The team adopted its nickname “The Floating Rhinos” after a 1977 tour to England and Wales, thereafter becoming known as the Hastings Rhinos. The team, matured into the HOBS (Hastings Old Boys) and played together many years both locally and on tour to Canada and Catalina. Dave’s interest in refereeing coincided with the old boys era, when he began to ref more than play. His family interests broadened upon becoming the father of two boys, Marcus and Tyler, who later played rugby. As an active referee, he progressed up the grades until age and the requirement of stronger legs and better athleticism caught up with him, when he turned to referee coaching.
In the late 90’s Dave became one of Northern California’s and USA Rugby’s stronger Performance Reviewers. Most referees aspiring to the National Level had to travel to “Pelican Land” to have Dave complete a review/grade on the referee’s performance. In addition to being a performance reviewer, Dave was tasked by the Pacific Coast Rugby Football Union to chair the referee’s society (from 2000-2004). Dave continued to regularly complete Performance Reviews until referee coaching became popular with the IRB, now World Rugby.
Retiring from coaching at the national level in 2009, he devoted countless hours to the coaching of young referees, coaching Berkeley High boy’s rugby team, filling duties as Development officer at the monthly NorCal Referee Society and organizing the Rugby NorCal high school referee system. His death on June 29, 2017 is a sad day for Rhinos, Pelicans, referees, family and friends. He will be missed.
Rugby NorCal and the Northern California Rugby Referee Society (NCRRS) have partnered to create the David Williamson Referee Scholarship as a way to honor the great David Williamson who put in so much time over the past many years to continue to develop young referees among our ranks.
Game Management Guidelines
2017 Game Management Guidelines are published for 15s (including a separate HS document) and 7s to enable referees, referee performance reviewers, referee coaches, players/teams, coaches, and administrators to have a clearer approach to the game and improve consistency in application of Law throughout the country, while also reflecting directives from World Rugby.
OVERDUE/DELINQUENT REFEREE FEES
The following teams are in arrears. Match officials will not be provided until their account has been paid in full.
Fresno State Men – $1,850
Referee Fees
The referee fees for fifteens are $75 per side per match. Fees are calculated by multiplying the number of games your team plays by $75. This includes all league, non-league, “friendly”, B-side, etc. matches regardless if they are “Home” or “Away”.
Teams hosting matches involving teams not located in Northern California Rugby Referee Society area are responsible for the visiting team’s fees (i.e., the host pays for all non-Northern California teams).
A check or money order for fees should be made payable to “Northern California Rugby Referee Society” and sent with a copy of the team’s schedule of games. Additionally, teams must email their schedule(s) using the following spreadsheet(s) to:
pelicanrefs@gmail.com.
Use this spreadsheet template available at:
http://pelicanrefs.com/
Fees for prior seasons are past due and subject to administrative fees. Payment for the upcoming season must be received by the NCRRS no later than February 1 or may be subject to a $100 administrative fee. Match fees considered “past due” will result in the NCRRS sanctioning the team by not assigning a referee to any further of team’s home or away matches (i.e., League, Non-League, or Tournament) until the fee is paid in full.
Note: If your team currently has an outstanding balance from previous seasons, you must immediately contact Dan Wilson (danwilson@pelicanrefs.com).
Send payment and schedule to:
Dan Wilson
511 Omaha Ave
Clovis, CA 93619
Questions regarding billing invoices should be addressed to Dan Wilson:
danwilson@pelicanrefs.com
CONTACT UPDATE
Please review your club(s) contact information at:
http://pelicanrefs.com/contacts/club-contacts/
Send updates to pelicanrefs@gmail.com
USA Rugby Membership Registration:To register for any role with USA Rugby go to www.usarugby.org and click on the red REGISTER button at the top of the screen.