USA Rugby Referees' 2015 High Performance Camps
USA Rugby Referees’ High Performance Group has announced the attendees for three high performance referee camps being held this summer and fall. The goal of these camps is to provide referees the tools to develop into High Performance referees in the near future.
“Our referee zone managers, Mike Cobb and Marc Nelson, maintain comprehensive lists of all present, future, and probable High Performance referees,” USA Rugby High Performance Referee Manager Richard Every said. “This ensures that the most promising officials are attending our camps and representing USA Rugby in the future, as referees and possibly as coaches, reviewers, and administrators down the road.”
“We have had multiple high performance referee camps over the last year and a half, and the attendees have shown accelerated development,” Cobb, USA Rugby Eastern Zone referee manager, said. “We are seeing great benefit to the referees and USA Rugby as a whole.”
The upcoming camps will cover a full spectrum to assist HP referee development. The camps build on technical skills, such as the breakdown, set pieces, Laws, etc., guiding referees on how to approach all aspects with a deeper level of understanding. The camps will also include lessons on fitness, recovery, preparation, handling pressure, body language, and how to manage family, work, and rugby.
“The camps are always held in conjunction with international matches,” Nelson, USA Rugby Western Zone referee manager, said. “This allows the participants to be exposed to international referees and the environment of international rugby.”
The selected attendees are:
| Sacramento, CA: 7/23-25 | USA vs Japan / Fiji vs Samoa |
|---|---|
| Joshua Pendergrass* | Northern California |
| Lee Bryant | Northern California |
| Tim Lew | Northern California |
| Brett Johnson | Pacific North |
| Carrissa Hsieh * | Pacific North |
| Chad Douglas | Pacific North |
| Michelle O’Brien | Pacific North |
| Nick Cutrell | Pacific North |
| Pat Wickman | Pacific North |
| Chris Huff | Rocky Mountain |
| John Neiss* | Southern California |
| Joey Swatzell* | Texas |
| Philadelphia, PA: 8/28-30 | USA vs Harlequins |
| Gavin McCandless | Eastern Penn |
| Cisco Lopez | Florida |
| Khalil Harrison* | Florida |
| Brad Cole* | Mid South |
| Amelia Luciano | New England |
| Emily Hsieh | New England |
| Clayton Livley* | Potomac |
| Jake Still | Potomac |
| Mike O’Brien* | Potomac |
| Nick Tricarico | Rocky Mountain |
| Dave Edwards | Southeast |
| Brian Kelly | Virginia |
| Chicago, CA: 9/4-6 | USA vs Australia |
| John Stevens | CARFU |
| Matt McCandless | Eastern Penn |
| James Rodriquez | Mid South |
| Enrique Alvarez* | Minnesota |
| Tim Anderson | New York |
| Zack Houston* | Ohio |
| Rick Goldammer* | Rocky Mountain |
| Steve Gore* | Rocky Mountain |
| Evan Kelly | Southeast |
| Wendy Young | Texas |
| Cody Kuxmann | Wisconsin |
| Trevor Williams | Wisconsin |
*Financed by their LROs
