Get a Ref: Procedures for obtaining a match official.
Match Fees: Society policy about charging clubs and reimbursing referees.
During the Week
Review the Laws of the Game, and 15s USA Rugby Game Management Guidelines (2015) (Sevens, High School).
Contact the club contact at least forty-eight hours prior to your match to check for possible changes in the game time or location. Please inform Pete Smith if there are any conflicts or game cancellations.
If you are assigned to a First Division second side match, you are also be expected to run touch as a team of “two” for the first side match.
Pre-Game Ritual
1. Arrive at the field at least 60 minutes prior to the scheduled kickoff.
2. Introduce yourself to the home team game official (coach, captain, or other).
3. Have the team officials fill out their section of the match card, including the non-residence status and CIPP Number.
4. Inspect the field with the home club official to ensure compliance with the NCRFU Match Protocol.
5. Check boots, pads, headgear, etc.
6. Meet with the Front Rows.
7. Meet with Captains for coin toss. Home (or highest seed) team tosses the coin. The winner of the toss decides whether to kick off or to choose an end. If the winner of the toss decides to choose an end, the opponents must kick off and vice versa.
8. Instruct the Assistant Referees or Touch Judges.
9. Get the match started on time.
Foul Play Reporting
In case of a player sent off or sin-binned (red card or yellow card), be sure to report it on the match card and email the appropriate party(ies) no later than noon two days after the match, which is normally the next Tuesday. In event of a serious incident, immediately notify Paul Bretz.
The various competitions all have their own disciplinary chairs and this will make it difficult to centralize the communication and data. To help sort through this morass, an online reporting form was developed to centralize the process, regardless of the competition. Submit one form per card.
The link to the discipline form is:
https://docs.google.com/a/pelicanrefs.com/forms/d/1mmUNg11uVOSkIsUtHifSqQzalhWbwohk_J6AmPyrucQ/viewform
- Copy the link and have it available on your smartphone. If you have an Iphone add the link to your home screen.
- When needed, fill it out and click submit. The discipline chair of the competition you refereed will receive a notification about the incident.
- Keep the incident description, if any, VERY brief. If you wish to elaborate beyond citing the Law violated, include “Call me if you have any questions” or similar language in the description.
Match Cards
FOR ALL MATCHES: Have both teams fill in their rosters before the game and secure the card. After the match, fill in the result along with any disciplinary actions taken, sign it, and mail it in as soon as you can. It’s a good idea to take it to the game with a stamp already on it and then drop it in the first mailbox that you see afterwards.
Please bear in mind that when you sign the card you are not attesting to the validity of the information that the teams wrote on the card. You are merely attesting to what you wrote on the card and to the fact that the names, as listed, were already there when you signed it. Match cards are to be used for all collegiate, women’s, and men’s matches in Northern California RFU. They can be downloaded at Match Card (pdf) or Match Card (doc).