Dear referees,

Having finished a fantastic British Championships these last two weekends which draws a line under refereeing in 2023, I’d like to share a few thoughts on the year past.

Our new commission

This year saw Bill Taggart step down from the NRC and his position as Chair. As I succeed him, I’d like to express gratitude to Bill for his service.

In taking over as Chair, I’m delighted to be picking up at a time where we have a strong set of British referees, some 330 of you supporting our events each and every weekend, a motivated team of area reps, a talented group of young referees and where we have once again found our feet and are succeeding on the international stage.

I’m pleased to welcome Martin Rivers, Dan Harris and Stefan Newbury as new members of the NRC, alongside Carol Leverton, Keith Merrick and Archi Shrimpton as continuing members. Following our first meeting at these Championships I look forward to working with this refreshed team.

I’d like to walk through some of the highlights of the year.

International highlights

First, I had my own career highlight being promoted to IJF International at the Cadet and Junior Asian Cup in Kazakhstan. I wasn’t the only one and I was very pleased that Archi Shrimpton could share in the same success alongside me, also being promoted to IJF International.

I was also pleased to put forward Mark Waterhouse for IJF Continental examination in Malaga. We’re delighted Mark was successful under the watchful gaze of the EJU and IJF and welcome him to our blue badge ranks.

Lisa Rivers completed her first year on the IJF World Tour – the first British referee to reach this level since 2012. She’s attended eight World Tour events, with the coveted Paris Grand Slam being a highlight. Lisa is demonstrating that GB continues to produce world class referees and she is looking forward to next year.

Among our European performances, we’ve fielded British IJF referees at some 21 EJU events, which is a strong showing, alongside a further 10 appearances at EJU Cups by our national referees seeking to progress. This has included six well deserved European Championships selections for:

• Lisa Rivers – European Senior Championships & European Mixed Teams
• Stefan Newbury – European Cadet Championships
• Graeme McLachlan – European Veterans Championships & European Youth Olympic Festival
• Archi Shrimpton – European U23 Championships

After almost 40 years of refereeing, we also marked Peter Crumpton’s retirement from international duties with a presentation of a letter of thanks by EJU commission members. While his distinguished international career draws to a close, Peter will continue refereeing on home soil.

Finally, I’d congratulate Archi and Lisa on successfully completing the IJF Academy – Undergraduate Certificate in Judo Instruction. This is a relatively new ask for more senior referees combining 18 weeks of theoretical work, followed by a tough six days of practical work and examination. I’m pleased that a number of you have already joined the next intake or have expressed interest in doing so in 2024, it’s a great way to build a solid technical base.

British highlights

2023 was also our first time running a GBR Junior European Cup – this is a fantastic opportunity for our athletes and also for our referees to have the opportunity to work at a challenging event on home soil. The BJA fielded 10 referees, including seven national referees – Natasha Maslen, Darren Haynes, Dan Harris, Mark Waterhouse, Bill Taggart, Howard Clarke-Melville and Paul Tansey. Feedback from the EJU commission on the refereeing team was very positive, which reflects well on all those selected. We’ll be running the event again next year, so look forward to delivering another excellent team of referees.

I was pleased we were able to run another successful national seminar this year, as well as build in some more mat-based activities to mix up the day. It was attended by 69 of you, and number of coaches, I’m grateful to those attending and of course to those delivering the content.

I’m really pleased to be able to share a number of promotions from examinations to National B and National A. Congratulations on your well-deserved promotions:

National A: Natasha Waterhouse, Darren Collick, Adam Lowe, Stephen Sims, David Harrison, Antony Devoy, Joe Chraniuk, James Robinson

National B: Victoria Kirk

I was also pleased to be able to make a number of presentations for Senior National this year at the British Championships. We reserve this award for those demonstrating a significant commitment to refereeing across their own personal performance, leadership and the development of others – real pillars of our refereeing community. Congratulations again to:

• Alan Heron
• Howard Clarke-Melville
• Paul Tansey
• Bill Taggart
• Mark Maslen

And of course, congratulations to all those achieving Club, Area and National C awards this year, as well as all of you selected for national events. There’s too many to mention here, but a very well done to you all.

Of course, amongst the highlights the year also brought news of the sad passing of a three of our former senior referees. Paul Thompson, former IJF International referee and member of the board of JudoScotland. Eddie Ainsworth, Scotland’s longest-serving international referee, and David McSkimming, IJF Continental referee and former JudoScotland board member. Paul, Eddie and David made significant contributions to refereeing, particularly in Scotland, and will be missed by those that knew them.

Upcoming Revalidation

As referees, you’ll be familiar with the need to revalidate your status as a referee through demonstrating activity every three years. With 2024 being the start of the next cycle, area reps have validated your level of activity. For any of you we can’t immediately revalidate due to not meeting the usual requirements, please don’t worry, we’ll look to work with you to provide revalidation opportunities, as we’d like to see as many of you as possible continue in refereeing.

Awards

Turning to a final positive note before closing. I’d like to congratulate Neil Lawcock on being awarded the BJA’s Referee of Year at the 2023 Awards. Since stepping down from active IJF duties, Neil has shown unwavering support for the next generation of refereeing talent – as a RIC, running courses and taking some of our most promising referees to events abroad to gain valuable experience. Congratulations also go to Jean Knowles, the inaugural recipient of the Kano Way award, recognising her 60 years’ contribution to the sport, being a flag-bearer for female referees and exemplifying our judo values.

I’d also congratulate Victoria Kirk on winning Judo Scotland’s Referee of the Year and Kirsty Wilson, for winning their Young Referee of the Year.

So, an excellent year, thank you all for everything you’ve done in 2023. On behalf of the whole NRC, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Best wishes, 

James McBeath, 

NRC Chair

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