British American Football Referees' Association

Logo of BAFRA

The British American Football Referees' Association (BAFRA) is the organisational body for American Football Referees in Britain.^[1][2][3] BAFRA is affiliated to the British American Football Association.^[4]

BAFRA was established in 1984 and provides game officials for American Football games played in the British Leagues.^[1] BAFRA officials are eligible to officiate in International Federation of American Football fixtures if selected to do so and in recent years BAFRA has provided personnel for the chain crews at NFL International Series games played at Wembley Stadium.^[5]

A typical BAFRA crew at South Leeds Stadium

Association Governance

There 8 directors of BAFRA and several working committees are convened during the year as required.^[6] The Association has five stated objectives:^[6][7]

1. To improve the standard of officiating by training and examination, and by any other means
2. To enable all American football games in Britain to have neutral officials
3. To promote and uphold the status of officials both collectively and individually
4. To co-operate and to cultivate good relations with all bodies concerned with American football, for the betterment of the game
5. To take such action or make such representation as an Association, or in conjunction with others as may be considered desirable, in the interests of American football in Britain in general or for the benefit of officials and officiating in particular

Training

An annual convention is held (typically in March or April), during which a number of training videos and breakout sessions are conducted, together with the Annual General Meeting.^[8] A guest speaker is invited to participate—to mark the association's 25th anniversary in 2009, the guest speaker was Greg Gautreaux, the field judge at Super Bowl XLIII.^[9]

The John Slavin Trophy

John Slavin was a long-serving BAFRA official and also a director of the Association, who died in October 2005. In his memory BAFRA dedicated an annual award to be made to any UK team that shows commitment to improving the game experience for players and fans, as well as officials. The criteria for the award is decided at the start of each season by the rules committee to reflect varying aspects of game management that would benefit from improvement.^[10][11][12]

Previous National winners of the trophy

• 2015 - Ipswich Cardinals^[13]
• 2014 - Ipswich Cardinals^[10][14]
• 2013 - DC Presidents^[15]
• 2012 - Cambridgeshire Cats^[11][16]
• 2011 - Colchester Gladiators^[17]
• 2010 - Bedfordshire Blue Raiders^[18]
• 2009 - Edinburgh Wolves^[19]
• 2008 - Oxford Saints^[20]
• 2007 - Edinburgh Wolves^[12]
• 2006 - Cambridgeshire Cats^[11][12]

Previous University winners of the trophy

• 2014-15 - ARU Rhinos^[21]
• 2013-14 - Southampton Stags^[22]
• 2012-13 - UEA Pirates^[23]
• 2011-12 - Southampton Stags^[24]
• 2010-11 - UEA Pirates^[25]
• 2008-09 - Anglia Ruskin Phantoms^[26]
• 2007-08 - Southampton Stags^[12]
• 2006-07 - Surrey Stingers^[12]

Weekly newsletter

Within its website BAFRA publishes an open weekly online newsletter called Newsflash that includes items of interest, notices of appointment, game reports, disciplinary decisions and any rule changes.^[27][28]

References

1. "BAFRA - Information Page". BAFRA.org. http://www.bafra.org/info/index.htm. Retrieved 18 November 2014. External link in |publisher= (help)
2. "American Football - What's It All About". Kent Spoty. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
3. "NFL: Try your hand at being an American Football official in British League". skysports.com. Sky Sports. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
4. "Getting Started in Refereeing". British American Football. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
5. "NFL: From the Sideline". britishamericanfootball.org. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
6. "MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION OF THE BRITISH AMERICAN FOOTBALL REFEREES ASSOCIATION LIMITED" (PDF). 31 March 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
7. "ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION OF THE BRITISH AMERICAN FOOTBALL REFEREES ASSOCIATION LIMITED" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2014.
8. "BAFRA Newsflash Issue: 08/10". BAFRA. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
9. "Super Bowl official to mark BAFRA's silver jubilee". British American Football Association. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
10. "Cardinals win BAFRA Awards". http://www.ipswichcardinals.co.uk. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014. External link in |website= (help)
11. "Cambrideshire Cats American Football Club". http://www.cambridgeshirecats.com. Retrieved 2 December 2014. External link in |website= (help)
12. "The John Slavin Trophy". BAFRA. Retrieved 18 Nov 2014.
13. "John Slavin Award 201 5 BAFANL Season" (PDF). Retrieved 27 November 2015.
14. "John Slavin Award 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2014.
15. "John Slavin Award 2013 BAFANL Season" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2014.
16. "John Slavin Award 2012" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2014.
17. "John Slavin Award 2011" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2014.
18. "John Slavin Award 2010" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2014.
19. "John Slavin Award 2009". Retrieved 2 December 2014.
20. "John Slavin Award 2008". Retrieved 2 December 2014.
21. "John Slavin Award 2014-15 BUCS Season" (PDF). Retrieved 27 November 2015.
22. "John Slavin Award 2013-14 BUCS Season" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2014.
23. "John Slavin Award 2012-13" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2014.
24. "John Slavin Award 2011-12" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2014.
25. "John Slavin Award 2010-11" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2014.
26. "NEUTRAL ZONE - BAFRA's newsletter for clubs and teams" (PDF). Retrieved 4 December 2014.
27. Snee, Tom (10 October 2014). "BAFA reject Dreadnoughts appeal". http://dblcoverage.com. Double Coverage. Retrieved 2 December 2014. External link in |website= (help)
28. "BAFRA Newsflash". Retrieved 4 December 2014.

External links

• BAFRA homepage