We have over a hundred signed up referees but of those about 60 covered all the official appointments. Fifty-five Dorset and Wilts referees have benefited from having a Referee Coach and/or an MOD helping them develop their performance; I apologise if I haven’t managed to appoint someone to watch everyone. Some of the referees watched have just had ‘health checks’, others have been pushing for promotion. The Counties also benefited from a good number of exchange fixtures which had to be covered by the MODs.
We have 6 active MODs and 5 referee coaches and they have done a fantastic job covering over 167 matches, including more than 30 matches watching visiting exchange referees. 4 MODs and a coach (John Baldwin, Mike Collis, Horace Letchford, Denis Nolan and Peter Knight) covered a total of 104 matches, 22 of which were exchanges. The report writing was the most informative and helpful I can recall and I believe the majority of comments boosted the standard of refereeing.
The hard work done by the Referee Coaches has been a useful addition to the development of our referees.
The next Grading Meeting will be in December 2025.
Results of the End of Season Grading Metting
Congratulation to the following Dorset and Wilts Referees who have been regraded:
To 10
Ben Coombes
Craig Foskett
Nick Fuller
Anne-Marie Myhill
Tony O’Connell
Lewis Wright-Hurn
To 9
Stuart Duncan
Lewis Jackson
Michael Wheelhouse
To 9*
Tristan Hastings
Simon Hopkinson
Drew Shaw
Tim Storer
To 8*
Ben Edward
Marcus Flor-Vickers
Connor Robinson
To 7
Damien Thursby
To 6
Louis Browne
Ross Lakey
Stephen Walley
As a star (*) grade is a stepping stone to a higher grade and if you failed to gain promotion at this Grading Meeting your star grading will revert to a straight grade.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any queries regarding your grading or the targets you should set yourself.
I wish you a wonderful summer break and I look forward to seeing the reports of your development next season.
Jim Bischoff
Referee Development and Grading Officer for Dorset and Wilts
07885353088