With all the Tees Tigers canoe polo teams doing so well and the club going from strength to strength, one thing has been missing - qualified referees!  But thanks to Head Coach Nicky the situation is improving as he organised a referee training/assessment weekend for the 21st and 22nd May.  Read on to find out what happened over the weekend:

The weekend was a brilliant opportunity for the club’s members and parents to learn the rules and play some bumper canoes.  With Tees Tigers and Trentham “Trouts/Terrapins” (name tbc) there was a good turn out on both days.

Saturday consisted of present giving in the form of whistles and Ivan running through the rules for the grade 3/4 course, with challenging “what if” questions to test even his knowledge. This was followed by the EXAM. Whilst the grade 3/4 exam was being sat, the div 2 course began with general discussions over the current rules, how they could be improved and possible new rules that could be brought in.

Following the tense afternoon of study and exams, it was time to let the hair down. The evening started with pizza, pasta and garlic bread followed by rhubarb cake. This was swiftly followed by a trip to Darlington and many beverages before finally ending up in Flares with some dubious dancing particularly to Saturday night which was poorly choreographed with many versions simultaneously!!

Sunday saw the practical assessment of the exam qualified ref’s. Numerous games were played displaying a variety of fouls, both accidental and intentional, leading to some difficult decisions for the new referees who handled the situations well, resulting in Andy Rhu receiving a red card and missing the next game!!

Well done to everyone who got qualified and thanks to Ivan (assessor) and Nicky (organiser).  Now to the summer tournaments to get some practice in!