15/01/2024

Ring Officials Seminar

On Sunday the BBBofC held a Ring Officials Seminar, in Birmingham, for all Referees, Inspectors, Council Members, Timekeepers and Area Secretaries, with around 100 attendees.

Following General Secretary, Robert W. Smith’s introduction, Head Office Medical Advisor, Neil Scott spoke, on the signs, symptoms and biomechanics of concussion. He moved on to examples of concussion in the ring and the importance of second impact syndrome, before closing on the challenges the Board face going forward and CPD.

Les Potts, Central Area Secretary, followed with a presentation on the Role of the Inspector, their responsibilities at tournaments and the importance of accurate document completion.

Following lunch, former international rugby referee, Nigel Owens MBE spoke of his early life, discrimination, mental health, and addiction and how this shaped his refereeing. He highlighted the importance of enjoying what you do, keeping emotion out of officiating and making hard decisions in the interest of the sport. Nigel also stressed how he learned to ‘park’ errors and move on. He finished with the impact that technology is having on sport.

Midlands Area Timekeeper, Jason Booth, gave a passionate speech on his role within the sport, from the application and training process, to working at the biggest tournaments in the world. He talked about the significance of good communication with the referee and being highly organised.

Les Potts returned to outline Area Council meetings and the application process for licence holders, and the attempts made to standardise the process across the country.

The final talk of the day was given by BBBofC UKAD Educator, Suzanne Potts, who outlined anti-doping and the testing procedure. She updated officials on the Board’s implementation programme and how Officials can help with this by directing licence holders to the 100% me Clean Sport App, Global Dro and Informed Sport websites.