Interesting first Test for Canadian
There is a 2011 World Cup qualifier to be played in Port of Spain on the island of Trinidad when Brazil play Trinidad & Tobago, and the referee will be David Smortchevsky from the far west of Canada.
The match is an Americas qualifier in which the winners of the Caribbean Championship play the winners of CONSUR B, the second tier of South American countries. Not that the winner will be heading for New Zealand but it does mean that they get to join the big men like the USA, Uruguay and Canada. In fact there is a second leg between the two in Brazil and the winner of the two legs then joins Chile and Uruguay in the next round. There is a long way to go.
There is also a long way for David Smortchevsky to go from British Columbia Canada with its chocolate-box beauty, to Trinidad and its 16th century capital Port of Spain, once Puerto de los Hispanioles. In fact it is a journey of three plane flights over about 12 hours. Canada is a big country.
Travelling with Smortchevsky are his two Canadian assistants – Sam Langridge, who comes from even further west, Victoria on Vancouver Island, and Bryan Arciero, originally from Eastern Canada but now from Alberta, British Columbia’s neighbour.
For Smortchevsky it is, of course, a journey, an occasion and a match of great excitement – on a Caribbean Island in a World Cup Qualifier, his first Test. It’s far more romantic than being a prison guard at Vancouver Jail.
David Nicholas Smortchevsky was born in Nelson, BC, on 12 June 1974 and started playing rugby at school, Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver, at the age of 12. The school is a state run school, founded in 1965 with about 1000 coeds and good rugby teams for boys and girls. He left school for Simon Fraser University, one of Canada’s top universities, in 1992 and continued playing rugby for Capilano Rugby Club
He played for the club for eight years and coached at his old school for 10 years and at the club for seven. He clearly loves rugby.
In 2000 Smortchevsky started refereeing. “I was always interested in that aspect of the game. I thought I could do the job well, I figured I would make a better referee than a player! Once I got into it I really enjoyed myself so staying with it has been easy. I love the challenge and the great feeling when a game is refereed well.”
So he joined Vancouver Fraser Valley Rugby Referees, and his career developed. He helped it along by refereeing in Wellington, New Zealand, for a while in 2005, and then in 2006 he was appointed to the Rugby Canada National Panel. Since then he has refereed in Canada’s Super League and in the IRB’s NA4 for Canadian and USA clubs, refereeing the Final in 2008. Apart from that he has been a touch judge at the USA Sevens.
Of course he has enjoyed it. “The USA Sevens tournaments have both been excellent rugby experiences for me. The NA4 leg in Glenfield, Colorado, USA was also an excellent experience. We were there for a week for two games. The rugby and the travel with the Canadian crew was great, and the USA rugby referees were great hosts for our stay.”
Travelling to Port of Spain will not be a problem as playing and coaching took him to Japan, New Zealand, Australia, USA, England and Wales, and refereeing has taken him to the States and New Zealand.
The taste of the good life in refereeing has been enjoyable and it has whet an appetite. “I would love to referee a tier 1 international. I’ll take what comes along and enjoy the ride!”
The sort of referee he hopes he is? “Safe and fair. I’ve been described as ‘a players referee’.”
Smortchevsky is married to Mary Jane and they have a daughter, Anna.
All referees will hope that he has an enjoyable and successful trip as a prelude for a great career in refereeing.
