Reports on Match Officiating Workshop for the Indonesia Rugby Union
The Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) held an online Match Officiating Workshop for the Indonesia Rugby Union (PRUI) on September 28.
The session was organised following a request by the Indonesian Union to the JRFU to support them in improving match officiating capabilities ahead Rugby Sevens being included in Indonesia’s National Sports Week.
While initial plans included inviting Indonesian referees for training in Japan and sending a team of Japanese referees to the National Sports Week Rugby Sevens tournament, ongoing Covid-19 restrictions forced the JRFU to change plans and deliver the programme 100% online.
To prepare the participants for the discussions and familiarise them with various real-life officiating scenarios, the JRFU shared a set of instructional videos, along with study materials and a pre-training test ahead of the session.
The response from the session was incredibly positive, with the attendees all in agreement that their level of officiating improved markedly as a result. The JRFU is proud to have worked with its Indonesian brothers and sisters, as members of the Asia Rugby family and contributed to improving match officiating in Indonesia. The JRFU wishes the PRUI the best of success for the National Sports Week Rugby Sevens Tournament which will run from October 12 to 14.
[COMMENTS TO BE SELECTED FROM PARTICIPANTS & UNION OFFICIALS]
(1) Agus Djamhoer, Vice President of PRUI
We proudly call Japan Rugby our elder brother. The JRFU, together with JICA, has helped to grow Indonesian Rugby and I am sure this collaboration will continue into the future.
One of our challenges is the number of qualified Indonesian referees, so with today’s session, our referees gained valuable experience that will help them improve their match officiating technique and confidence. We send our thanks to Japan Rugby.
(2) Masatoshi Mukoyama, Head of International Cooperation, JRFU
The JRFU is proud to work with Indonesia Rugby to develop referees through the Asian Scrum Project. I am sure the programme will help these referees develop their skills and confidence to perform at the National Sport Week Rugby Sevens Tournament, and into the future.
(3) Takashi Harada, Referee Manager, JRFU
Our lecturer always asked the participants ‘why?’ This is just like on the field when the players ask the referee ‘why?’ Like the world’s best referees, we encourage the referees to explain why and how they come to each decision.
We look forward to resuming the Asia Referee Camps in Japan after 2 years of cancellation due to Covid-19, and we would like Indonesia to join. We wish Indonesia Rugby every success for the National Sport Week Rugby Sevens Tournament.
(4) Ridwan Afif – Indonesian Referee
The training was very fruitful, and I have learned a lot. There is so much to know, so we could go for an even longer time. A big thank you to the JRFU.
(5) Qonidah – Indonesian Referee
We were aware that we didn’t have high level of knowledge and confidence. With this session, I believe we will be more confident to officiating at the National Sports Week. We hope we can continue doing more of these sessions on a regular basis.
(6) Ridzal Saat, World Rugby
“It is very important that leading unions such as Japan continue to support other member unions to help develop Rugby in Asia. The Rugby Sevens Competition at the National Sports Week is another major milestone for Indonesian Rugby. We would like to wish all the best to the teams, match officials, the organisers and to Indonesia Rugby.”
JRFU’s Rugby Development Division launched “Asian Scrum Project” in 2011 and has been promoting various programs with the objectives to pursue (1) rugby development primarily in Asia, (2) deepen mutual understanding and promote an inclusive society and, (3) make a social contribution of human resources to develop various programs. As a main pillar of the project, since 2013, the JRFU has been cooperating with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to promote rugby related volunteer initiatives, which has helped the JRFU to deepen the relationship between Japan and other Asian countries through Rugby. Former JICA volunteers joined the online referee workshop to support the session with Japanese to Indonesian interpretation.
The JRFU’s Technical Division has been holding Asian Referee Camp in Sugadaira, Nagano Prefecture for referees from across the region. These camps were unfortunately cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19, however the aim is to restart the programme again in 2022.