Westmeath GAA referees hold their presentation evening
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At the Westmeath referees presentation evening were, from left: Sean Sheridan, coordinator, Enda Kenny, Pat Fox, Shane Maher and Frank Mescall, county committee chairman.Image 2 of 4
Sean Sheridan, Barry Pearse, Brendan Shaw, Ken Gunning, Cathal Boland, Frank Mescall and Alan Coyne.Image 3 of 4
Peter Collins, Sean Sheridan, James Allard, Richie Heffernan, Frank Mescall, Enda Kelly, Jim Rock, John Williams and James Cribbin.Image 4 of 4
Sean Sheridan, Sean Carroll, James McGrath, Derek Heffernan and Frank Mescall.There were 30 referees in attendance at the Westmeath GAA referees awards evening in Tyrrellspass GAA centre on Thursday evening.
It was a very positive gathering and there was plenty of discussion on refereeing matters for the year ahead before county final referees from 2023 picked up their awards. The new season has just commenced and all referees will be busy with both underage and adult games in the months ahead.
Referees’ Coordinator Sean Sheridan welcomed everyone and Jimmy Cribbin, Chairman of the Referees’ Association, got proceedings underway.
County Committee Chairman Frank Mescall addressed the match officials and spoke on the importance of referees’ reports and having them properly completed in order that the Competitions Control Committee (CCC) can deal with disciplinary matters in a thorough fashion.
Keith Quinn, CCC secretary, spoke on fixtures and the important role referees play in getting a busy programme of games completed.
Peter Collins Coiste na NÓg secretary spoke on the importance of developing new referees.
Patrick Doherty (Head of Operations) and Brendan Shaw (Co Committee Secretary) attended.
Efforts are being made to get a new jersey for Westmeath which will be exclusively for club referees.
“It will be our own referee’s jersey. The jerseys we have are a bit dated, in fairness, and it’s just an idea to freshen things up in Westmeath,” Sean Sheridan explained.
The positive news is that Westmeath has 58 new referees at U12 level which is great. “I want to thank Coiste na nÓg for their great work in recruiting the young referees. It’s a marvellous improvement on recent years when we really struggled to get new referees,” said Mr Sheridan.
Westmeath held one training course in Athlone where 19 new referees attended for football. They had three nights in Mullingar, one for hurling and then two football training sessions with 18 referees per night.
“Niall Ward oversaw the course in Athlone and Brian Crowe from Cavan, former All-Ireland football referee, led the one in Cusack Park. Our own Barry Kelly oversaw the hurling course,” said Mr Sheridan.
“They were very good and the feedback from the new referees was excellent.”
The new referees will have a different jersey to indicate they are part of a development panel. They will be recognised in the U12 and U14 games in hurling and football when the season starts. In the long-term, the hope is to bring them forward to U16 level and beyond.
There are nine advisors working in the county and this will provide an extra layer of assistance for the new referees. Westmeath will have a launch of the 58 new referees on March 15 and they will be presented with gear on the evening.
Thursday’s presentation evening and discussion was a positive one.
“It was a good meeting and a very constructive evening overall. I was very pleased with how it went and we can look forward to the new season,” said Mr Sheridan.
“The goal and the target is that every club would have two referees in future years. We have made a great start and we can build on it.”
The Westmeath referees’ committee is: James Cribbin, chairman; Sean Sheridan (secretary) and Richie Heffernan (treasurer); plus Joe Martin and Alan McCormack, committee members.