2017 Annual Awards - Refereeing Awards Part 2

We continue to take a look at our Refereeing Awards in preparation for the 2017 Annual Awards that will take place on 25th November, 6.30pm at JetPark in Auckland.

The nominations for the two Refereeing Awards are

• Chris Buckland
• Glenn Carson
• Paul Kennett
• Joss Urbahn

The refereeing awards are as follow:

The Derek Cook Memorial Trophy was donated by Kelvin Harding in 1981, following the death of Derek Cook. Both Cook and Harding were A grade players from the Wellington district (Harding lived in Masterton), were good mates, and renowned for their fun-loving approach to life. When he died, Cook had also become a leading contributor to refereeing in New Zealand - one of few top players to contribute in this way.

Joseph Romanos, author of Long or Short, had this to say about Cook: "Cook had taken up squash in 1963 when growing up in Oamaru. He moved to Wellington in 1969, on a job transfer with Shell Oil. However, he soon found the job rather tedious. The challenges of running an escort agency and then being a private detective were more to his liking".

This trophy focuses on the contribution to others in refereeing through training, assessment, encouragement, promotion or rules knowledge. Awarded for one or more of, but not limited to:

• Significant contribution to referee training
• Significant contribution to referee assessment
• Significant contribution to local referee improvement
• Significant contribution through rules advice and interpretation
• Significant contribution through voluntary referee administration
• Significant effort in referee recruitment or advancement
• Significant effort in mentoring referees
• Significant promotion of refereeing
• Commitment to enhancing referee reputation and status through behaviour modelling
• Commitment to sharing knowledge and experience
• Exceptional and appropriate interaction with players and other referees

The Referees Trophy for Personal Endeavour focuses on a referee’s own achievement, improvement, effort, knowledge or ability. Awarded for one or more of, but not limited to:

• An exceptional achievement
• The most improved referee over a season
• Significant improvement or achievement beyond current level
• Significant effort to improve own competency
• Significant appointment to referee internationally beyond current level (either within or outside of New Zealand)
• Significant improvement in status
• Exceptional assessment record
• Exceptional knowledge gained or displayed

When deciding the judging panel considers the criteria above in making their final decision.

Our third nomination goes to Paul Kennett. Paul (also known as PK) has gained his qualification as a national referee in a very quick time. Paul is a new Referee who only started refereeing in the 2017 season and very early on he showed great potential as a referee passing all of his assessments at National level. Paul achieved all of the requirements of National Referee by June 2017, and was named in the refereeing team for the 2017 World Junior Championships. Paul performed very well at these Championships and the learning and development he gained will stand him in good stead for his future refereeing endeavors. Paul is always thinking about his progress, and accepts guidance readily and he has gained a good understanding of what to do as a referee.

Our final nomination goes to Joss Urbahn. Joss brings a wealth of experience to the Tournament Referees role and as a former Squash New Zealand National Referees Director, she has attended WSF Referees Workshops, facilitated numerous National Referees training workshops and worked with many District and National Referees.

Joss attended the World Doubles in Melbourne (2006), was the Tournament Referee at the World Junior Men’s Championships (2006) and Women’s World Teams (2010). She also attended the Australian Squash Opens (2009-2014); and has been the Tournament Referee for multiple National, District and Club events.

Congratulations to Joss and PK on their nominations.