New president for KZN refs
KwaZulu Natal referees’ Society have just elected a new president – André Lourens who unseated Ian Wedderburn.
Also elected are two new vice-presidents Allan O’Connell and Kamal Rugbar.
Lourens was the previous chairman of Midlands (Pietermaritzburg) for three years and the vice-president of KZN Referees under Wedderburn.
Lourens joined Society in 1996. He was a member of the senior panel of referees but stood down this last season. He is also a qualified IRB Educator.
Lourens is 43 years old and married to Jenny. He is employed by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KZN province.
The former Currie Cup referee Theuns du Toit has retired from his position as chairman of the Durban Sub-society. His place has been taken by Allan O’Connell.
The outgoing president presented his report to the General Meeting.
The first topic on the report was the problem of declining referees’ numbers, a worldwide phenomenon. Wedderburn was able to bring good news. After a concerted effort at the end of 2008 to recruit possible referees between the ages of 18 and 35, training was started for roughly 40 in November 2008 and January 2009. Most of them went on to referee and all five sub-societies reported an increase in numbers.
The president also reported that there were few cases of referee abuse in the province and that those reported had been effectively dealt with.
In the recession, sponsorships were harder to come by and there was greater reliance on the Union, but Moffat Optical continued its sponsorship of Midlands and Bearing man of Zululand while Emirates will sponsor the Durban sub-society in 2010.
Finding assessors was a problem but courses and coaching had been well run.
Marius Jonker and Craig Joubert were ranked No.2 and No.4 on the national Panel while Stu Berry, who refereed the Club Championship Final, and Sindile Mayende, who refereed the final of the Junior World Rugby Trophy in Kenya, were also on the panel and refereed their first Currie Cup matches in 2009. They are No.8 and No.9 on the 11-man National Panel. Archie Sehlako is now in the No 2 position on the SA Referees’ Provincial Panel. Reuben Rossouw, who is on the panel of specialised assistant referees, was appointed to the Junior World Trophy in Kenya and has been nominated to the IRB for its panel of specialised assistant referees. Allan O’Connell is on the national panel of assessors.
The senior KZN Panel of referees currently consists of 21 referees. The following new members were promoted to the panel during the year: Blake Beattie, Siyabonga Zwane, Magnus Oosthuizen, Jaco van Wyk, Armant Goldswain and Wynand Petzer. The Development Panel currently consists of 11 members.
Zululand had an exchange with the Manchester Society but for the first time the Society did not have an exchange with England and is now considering possibilities in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.
Committees
KwaZulu Natal Referees’ Society
President: André Lourens
Vice-presidents: Allan O’Connell, Kamal Rugbar
RDO: Burton Hufkie
Additional member: Pius Mnikathi
Secretary: Paul Ackermann
Sub-Societies
Durban:
Chairman: Allan O’Connell
Additional Member: Dean Quinn
Secretary: George Booysens
Midlands:
Chairman: Steve la Marque
Secretary: P van der Merwe
Lammergyer:
Chairman: Gerrie Nel
Secretary: Werner Botha
Southern KZN:
Chairman: Henri Herrewyn
Secretary: Giel Minnie
Zululand:
Chairman: Ampie Vorster
Secretary: Vic Erasmus
