Four officials from the Referees Association selected for the World Championships
Four BAFRA members were among the 28 officials initially selected for the 4th IFAF World Championship of American Football, which takes place in Austria in July. Jim Briggs, Davie Parsons, Pete Parsons and Keith Wickham were all chosen. Whilst Pete Parsons is not able to attend, the others will officiate four games in the nine-day tournament, starting on 8th July and finishing with the final on 16th July.
This will be Brigg’s second World Championship – he refereed the final in the 2003 tournament between Japan and Mexico. Jim and Davie officiated at the Junior World Championship in Canton in 2009. Davie, Pete and Keith’s most recent tournament experience was the 2010 European Championships where they all officiated in the final between Germany and France.
In 1999 Steve Tonkinson officiated as a Side Judge on the 1999 final in Sicily.
Great Britain was in a small group of nations that had the maximum four officials selected – the others being Austria, Japan and USA. Germany will provide three officials; there will be two each from Canada, Denmark and Norway; and single representatives from Australia, France, the Netherlands and Serbia.
Britain’s representatives will officiate in the group games alongside the four US officials on a crew led by this year’s Referees Convention clinician Bill LeMonnier. Davie will be the Linesman, Jim the Line Judge and Keith the Side Judge. This crew will be based in Graz during the group stage, officiating the games between Austria, Canada, France and Japan.