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AGOA Australian Gridiron Officials Association |
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Welcome to the website of the Australian Gridiron Officials Association (AGOA)!
The AGOA is comprised of the members of all of the Officials Associations in Australia.
Our members are drawn from active leagues in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and the ACT. If you’re near a major metropolitan area in one of these states and are interested in becoming an official, please visit our contacts page.
This website will also provide a definitive source for reference materials for experienced officials. Everything from mechanics manuals to scorecards will be available (if not already)
We’re also interested in building networks with other gridiron officials around the world. After all, officials everywhere face similar challenges!
News
NEW!!! See the News link for an update on the Junior World Cup from Tony Martin.
Venues for future National Championships
Posted: 2 July 2009
Gridiron Australia has established a process whereby national championships will be played on a state by state rotation basis as follows:
2010 (Senior) - Victoria
2011 (Junior) - NSW
2012 (Senior) - WA
2013 (Junior) - ACT
2014 (Senior) - NSW
Founding member of VGOA returns to officiating Posted: 2 July 2009
After an 11 year absence due to work commitments and health issues David Sinclair returned to on-field officiating action on the 13th June. As a founding member of VGOA with Mark Weber and Paul Mercer in 1985 David was instrumental in helping both VGOA and the original AGOA get organised. With his excellent knowledge of the game David was the first National Rules and Mechanics guru and, despite his long absence from the field, has kept up to date with the rules and mechanics changes that have occurred in the interim. To have someone of David's experience and knowledge not only available to work games but also to observe and assist in the development of our newer officials will provide great benefit to the game in Victoria and to the VGOA in particular. We are very pleased to have him back.
AGM Elects New Executive Committee
Posted - 8 June 2009
The following positions have been filled in the recent AGOA Annual General Meeting. Congratulations to all the new position holders, as well as those who are re-elected. Thanks to the outgoing Executive and Members for their good work in the previous year. Ordinary Members will be notified when details are available.
C.E.O. Grant Martin (South Australia) V.P. Tony Martin (Victoria) Sec Darrin Mitchell (New South Wales) Treas Paul Mercer (Victoria)
Junior National Results Posted - 9 June 2009
The NSW Wolverines have claimed their third Junior National title, beating the Victorian Eagles 12 – 8 in the final of the 2009 Junior Nationals held on the Gold Coast in Queensland. They had previously won the title at the 1996 and 2004 Championships. In the other games played on Finals Day, the WA Raiders defeated the Qld Sundevils 28 - 6 to take out 3rd place and the ACT Monarchs defeated the SA Fire 14 - 12 to finish 5th. Final rankings were: 1st: NSW 2nd: Vic 3rd: WA 4th: Qld 5th: ACT 6th: SA Source- Gridiron Australia
Gridrion Australia Junior Nationals Posted - 31 May 2009
Gridiron Australia has released the schedule for the Junior Nationals that are held on the Gold Coast from the 31st May to 6th June 2009. The venue is the Runaway Bay Super Sports complex. Please check with Gridiron Australia before relying on the schedule, as they are aware of any last minute changes.
GAME OFFICIALS SELECTED FOR 2009 IFAF JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Representatives of 15 IFAF member countries from four continents are invited to officiate
IFAF announce international panel and JWC appointments Posted: 3 April, 2009
The full list of officials appointed is as follows. Position assignments will be done later once all officials have confirmed their availability. Training tapes and other information will follow.
Officials for the JWC: Tony Martin, Australia Thomas Hofbauer, Austria Glenn Hill, Canada Ron Paluzzi, Canada Frank Kristensen, Denmark Frank Ramussen, Denmark Veikko Lamminsalo, Finland Serge Monmerque, France Juan Perez-Canto, France Zoltan Doboczky, Germany Henning Rieske, Germany Marcel Tschurer, Germany Jim Briggs, Great Britain David Parsons, Great Britain Jin Abe, Japan Masaru Azuma, Japan Atsushi Majima, Japan Akihiro Takakura, Japan Sanchez, Mexico Arnold Buijs, The Netherlands David Lee, New Zealand Einar Bolstad, Norway Fereed Adus, Sweden Jeffrey Batzler, Sweden Alex Barinaga, USA Pat Bayers, USA Brent Durbin, USA Bill LeMonnier, USA Julius Livas, USA Fenton Moore, USA Jamie Nicholson, USA Greg Shields, USA
Tony Martin (Vic)
All travel will be booked by the IFAF and the JWC organisation. Travel will most likely be to Cleveland, with ground transportation from there to Canton.
Mark Snow, Game Report Posted 28 March 2009
Where does one start with a game review???
Well I suppose I should say that the selection process is quite different to Australia. Over here, there are around 120 full time officials on the British American Football Referees Association (BAFRA) database, and we each complete an availability form a couple of months in advance for allocation to crews each week of a regular season. The University Season has been going since October/November of last year and I have been fortunate to be rostered on for nearly every weekend. It has meant travelling to all parts of the country, predominantly northern England and Scotland, and I have worked with some great crews as part of it. I was generally rostered at Referee, with a few side trips to Line Judge and back Judge throughout the season. The players and coaches alike have taken well to my ‘no nonsense’ approach to officiating, and I have formed some good relationships form a football perspective from these games. They are starting to get used to me, and I don’t really even have to tell them what I will and not accept on the football field prior to the game , because they generally come up to me and tell me ‘we have sorted out that guy you spoke to last game sir and he won’t be causing any trouble today’. So I really enjoy the interaction and also the ability to officiate with a known approach to the teams.
We are assessed on a semi regular basis, and as part of the assessment they look for mechanics based criteria, as well as rules interpretation and our manner on the field as officials generally, including pre-game meetings and communication with the other officials and teams throughout the game. I did well in the assessments that I had, with an average of 89%, which was considered high.
Around two weeks before the Challenge Trophy game I received a phone call from the Director of Operations for BAFRA informing me that I had been selected to officiate at Head Linesman for the game. I must admit that I was a little taken back when he told me. In fact, I couldn’t believe it!! He asked that I not tell anyone about it until it has been formally announced, which was quite difficult to do at the time.
Over the ensuing few days, I discovered that I was in fact the first Australian to have been selected to officiate a bowl game, which once again was a huge honour!
One of the things that I believe BAFRA do very well, is the pre-game and lead up to it. Probably on a Monday or Tuesday at the latest, the referee sends out an e-mail with the positions for the game, and a list of mechanics or rules bases tasks which are assigned to each official to bring to the game with them for a pre-game talk. There may also be a generic query or two that you may be asked to talk about during the pre-game, which generally lasts around 45 minutes to an hour prior to each game. It is a great way to get your head into the game, as well as brushing up on some mechanics (kick-off positions, zones of coverage, ball relay, covering other officials, measurements, etc).
The crew for the Challenge Trophy received our assignments on the Monday night and over the next few days, I collected information, studied the rule book (yet again) and the mechanics manual, to ensure that I would be spot on for Sunday. We were asked to be at the ground (South Leeds Stadium, around 1-1/2 hrs drive for me) around 2 hours prior to the game, and we all inspected the pitch, completed the ground report form, and then into the change rooms to get ready. The crew were great, and I had worked with two of the officials previously, Tim Vickers (Referee) and Ben Griffiths (Back Judge), and the other two Phil Clarke (Umpire, who I know you all know from last years National Championships) and Dean Wright (Line Judge), I had not worked with.
After a good pre-game, and laugh (to help us all relax mainly) we took to the field. I had to brief the chain crew, who oddly enough had never done a game before, and in fact did not know what they were meant to do, which made the job a little harder, but we got through it and they picked it up surprisingly well. The game was a blur if I were to be honest...two very evenly matched teams, each of which had a very good sideline, and basically well disciplined throughout the game. The closeness of the teams in ability matched the score-line which was Bath Killer Bees 13 defeated Sheffield Hallam Warriors 8.
After the game, we were each presented with a commemorative medal for our involvement, and we were told by the BUAFL President that it was the best performance by an officiating crew he had seen all season, and worthy of a final. We were obviously chuffed with the comment, and it has definitely given me the extra drive to continue in my strive to improve as an official and to hopefully look at a senior bowl game later in the year.
The Senior season actually starts in a couple of weeks, so I will keep you updated as to my progress and what adventures I am getting up to in the UK.
Ozzies Abroad - One AGOA Official Who Went to See the World Posted 22 March 2009
Mark Snow, now relocated to England, reports on his adventures in the British American Football league as a referee. It seems Mark has learned some British terms while over there, such as "hierarchy", which means something like "mates" in Australian. Read on for his report....
"I can’t quite believe that I have been here for nearly two years, and am enjoying living here and working, as well as being involved in officiating. All in all it is a good atmosphere to officiate in and I have been accepted as the ‘antipodean’ over here. The crews I have been fortunate to work with do give me some friendly 'stick' about being Australian.
Recently, I was selected to officiate in the British Universities American Football League (BUAFL) Challenge Trophy Bowl game which is being held this Sunday (22nd March) in Leeds between the Hallam Warriors and Bath Killer Bees. It is a huge honour, as the officials are selected by the BAFRA selection committee from all of the officials in the UK. What is even a bigger honour for me, is that I am apparently the first non-European to be selected in a bowl crew in England.
Last year I had my first full season of Seniors and Juniors, and the latest University season which is coming to its conclusion is going very well for me as well. I have been fortunate to officiate with some great officials, and have settled in after a steep learning curve. I have also refereed quite a few games.
I have found it a little odd the way that some officials here try and distance themselves from communicating on the field to the teams, which does not provide a good working relationship with them. It seems like the teams like the way that I officiate, especially the way that I communicate, something that I learnt from back home, so as to gain their trust as well as to the coaches. It has been well received from my end though, which is pleasing to me as well as the BAFRA hierarchy."
Panel for 2009 Junior National Championships announced
Posted - 15 March 2009 The following officials have been appointed to the Panel for this event: Tony Martin VGOA Tony Pegler GOAWA Simon Pollitt SAGOA Mark Vanselow VGOA Shaun Dove ACTGOA Alex Sturdy SAGOA John Frame VGOA Gordon Tuft SAGOA David Park QGOA The tournament will be held at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast from the 30th May to the 6th June and is expected to involve 6 states.
Local gridiron featured in AFL ad
Posted - 15 March 2009
 Pictured (L-R): Josh Martin, Mark Vanselow, Paul Mercer and Bryan Currie
Players coaches and officials from the Victorian gridiron community were recently involved in the making of an ad to promote Aussie rules football.
The ad, part of the AFL's "In a LEAGUE of its own" national television advertising campaign puts various Aussie Rules stars in the centre of the most famous sporting venues and events in the world. The gridiron segment was shot at the South Melbourne Football (Soccer) Club ground at Albert Park in Melbourne and puts Jonathon Brown (Brisbane Lions) and Chad Cornes (Port Adelaide) in the middle of a "Superbowl" sequence.
Local officials Bryan Currie, Mark Vanselow & Paul Mercer donned NFL-style officials shirts to provide authenticity to the action sequences whilst Tony Martin was the technical consultant. The entire shoot took 6 hours with countless takes and it was fascinating to see how many resources and how much planning and effort goes into making something that will probably last for no more than 15 seconds in the final cut. Part of the field was marked and there were many "extras" on hand to act as coaches,sideline staff and spectators. No officials were harmed in the making of the ad although one of the stuntman did suffer ankle damage after one spectacular fall!
The ad's will appear on national television from Sunday 22nd March.
Victorian officials work Kiwi Bowl
Posted - 15 March 2009
 Kiwi Bowl Crew March 2009: David Lee (U), Tony Martin (L) -Australia, Stephen Bowness (R), Paul Mercer (LJ) - Australia, Jim Hunter (BJ)
Following an invitation from NZGOA President Stephen Bowness, VGOA officials Tony Martin and Paul Mercer flew to Auckland last weekend to officiate at Kiwi Bowl XXVII.
Kiwi Bowl is the Auckland Senior Club Competition Final and this years game was a close-fought affair with the #1 ranked Metro Lions defeating the #3 ranked South Auckland Raiders 20-14. Following two weeks of rain, the Kiwi officials were contemplating having to bring out their black pants (a la the NFL) but in the event the day was a sunny and humid 22 degrees and the field was in very good condition.
New Zealand uses the BAFRA/EFAF mechanics manual and has also adopted the 2008 NCAA timing rule changes so Tony and Paul had plenty of reading to do on the flight to get up to speed with the changes but the game went very smoothly (2 hrs 18 mins) and there were no problems.
Stephen and David Lee are the only "full-time" officials in Auckland so they were very happy to have visitors and the opportunity to work the game was much appreciated by the Victorians. Tony is a fairly regular visitor to NZ and always manages to work a game or two but for Paul this was his first game in NZ and it was great to catch up with our NZ colleagues with whom we have an excellent relationship. The crew was completed by local Jim Hunter who is a very competent club official.
Following the game, the crew retired to the local English pub for a meal and a convivial ale, exchange war stories and discuss how the two countries might continue to work together and standardise mechanics, training and accreditation. The next day was devoted to sightseeing and Stephen generously offered his time (and car) to ferrying his visitors to several spots in and around Auckland - Mt Eden and North Head in Auckland itself from where there are terrific views of the city, harbour and bays and then on to the gannet colony at Muriwai beach and the beautiful beaches of Maori Bay.
A quiet meal at David's place on the Sunday evening, followed by a review of the 2008 Australian Senior Nationals final on his projector and giant screen, was the perfect finish to a great weekend. An early flight on the Monday meant a 5 am wake-up call but Stephen managed to get his visitors to the airport on time for an uneventful trip home. All in all, a very worthwhile and enjoyable experience with many thanks to both Stephen and David for their generous hospitality which we can hopefully reciprocate in the near future.
The crew who worked the game game were (from L-R): David Lee (U), Tony Martin (L), Stephen Bowness (R), Paul Mercer (LJ) & Jim Hunter (BJ)
Australian officials appointed to IFAF Selection Pool
Posted - 15 March 2009
The IFAF Officiating Committee has confirmed the names of the Australian and New Zealand officials appointed to the Selection Pool for 2009.
Simon Pollitt (SA) and Tony Martin (Vic) are the inaugural appointees from Australia whilst David Lee will be the New Zealand representative in the Pool. All three officials were recently involved in the Australia v New Zealand Junior World Cup qualifier in Canberra.
Simon has been officiating for 5 years and has over 100 games experience. He been heavily involved in the running of SAGOA over the last few years and also assists with training and recruitment. His preferred position is Umpire.
Tony has been involved with both VGOA and AGOA for many years and has served as President and in other capacities for both organisations. Since his first game in 1995, Tony has officiated more than 400 games, including games in the USA and at the World Games in Germany in 2005. He was the Linesman at last years Australian Senior National Championships. His preferred position is referee.
David Lee is from Auckland and has been officiating for 12 years, having worked over 300 games in that time including 4 international matches. He was the Field Judge at last years Australian Senior National Championships although Umpire is his preferred position.
IFAF will shortly be announcing which of the 2 Australian officials will be selected for the IFAF "List". Only officials on the IFAF List are eligible for assignment to IFAF games.
AGOA would like to congratulate all three officials on their appointment and wish them every success in any assignments they may receive.
Establishment of international Selection Pool Posted - Tuesday 10 march 2009
The newly-appointed International Federation of American Football Officiating Committee (IFAF OC) has established a 3-stage process for the creation of an international officiating pool.
At Stage 2: The IFAF OC selects officials from the Selection Pool to be included in the IFAF List. Officials on the IFAF List are ''IFAF Officials''. Only officials on the IFAF List are eligible for assignment to any IFAF game.
At Stage 3: The IFAF OC selects officials from the IFAF List to officiate at IFAF events, such as the upcoming Junior World Cup (JWC). Number of spots
The list below contains information on how many officials each national federation may have in the IFAF Selection Pool, and how many from each country that may be on the IFAF List and become IFAF Officials. The numbers are based on how many officials each national federation has. These quotas, or indeed the entire system, may be adjusted by the IFAF OC in the future if deemed necessary.
To become an IFAF Official, an official must first be nominated to the Selection Pool by his national federation and would normally have to be there for at least one year (except this year). Nominations will normally be made on a yearly basis. Officials on the IFAF List are picked from the Selection Pool, the officials in the Selection Pool are not in addition to those on the IFAF List. i.e. if you have 3 names in the Selection Pool and 2 on the list, that is a total of 3 names (not 5) for your federation. Countries must have a minimum of 25 officials to be eligible to have any IFAF Officials.
Federation IFAF Selection Pool IFAF List Australia 2 1 Austria 2 1 Brazil 2 1 Denmark 3 2 Finland 3 2 France 6 4 Germany 8 5 Hungary 2 1 Ireland 3 2 Japan 8 5 Netherlands 2 1 New Zealand 2 1 Special exemption for the JWC Norway 2 1 Serbia 2 1 Spain 2 1 Sweden 5 3 Switzerland 2 1 United Kingdom 3 2 United States of America 8 5
Criteria for nomination to the IFAF Selection Pool
IFAF consists of federations with a huge spread in experience. Therefore it is difficult to set certain criteria to be met by all. It is obvious that IFAF are only interested in the best and most dedicated officials from each country but the following are emphasized when determining nominees:
Experience. The nominee must be amongst the most experienced officials in your federation. For US officials – must have at least 2 years (recent, i.e. must have worked at the college level in 2007 and 2008) experience of college football, with a full schedule.
Dedication. The official must be very dedicated to officiating and to improve as an official. The official may not be an active player or coach.
Physical condition. The official must be fit enough to work intense games and must be able to move at sufficient speed.
Appearance. The official must fit into ''the mold'' of an international official. Things that might make an official to fall outside of this are things like, but not limited to:
Weight not in reasonable relation to height Hairstyle (unkempt hair, ponytails except for female officials, ''untraditional'' hairstyles) Facial hair (mustache may be permitted, beards and goatees are likely not acceptable) Piercings, earrings, certain tattoos (if visible) Language. The official language of the IFAF is English. Officials must be able to read, write and to communicate orally in English.
Officials who are nominated by AGOA are asked to provide the following information: Name Present age and date of birth Gender Nationality (passport) Home address E-mail address Telephone (including international dialing code) Nearest international airport Number of years as an official Number of games worked (If an estimate, please state so) Any experience of international officiating Assignment/career highlights (play-off games, championships, etc) Preferred position group: Referee, Umpire, Wing (HL/LJ) or Deep (FJ/SJ/BJ. If the official has sufficient experience with several positions, the official may state a second preference as well. Any other related experience (such as instructor, observer, committee or association work)
A photo is not mandatory but nominees are asked to enclose one, in a commonly used electronic format, if they can.
Note: IFAF OC may require you to submit one at a later date. It is also a good idea for the official to have some game tape ready for submission if requested by the OC. The OC may communicate directly with the nominee to get this in the interest of saving time.
Should you have any questions about this process please contact the AGOA Operations Manager, Paul Mercer.
AGOA Junior Nationals Posted: 25 February 2009
AGOA is now calling for nominations from all officials who wish to be considered for assignment to the panel for this event. Details of the tournament are as follows: When: May 30th - June 7th 2009 Where: Runaway Bay, Gold Coast, Qld At this point in time the number of participating teams has not been finalised and therefore the playing schedule is not known but it could be anything between 10 and 15 games for the tournament. The following documents are available as downloads from this website: The closing date for nominations is Sunday 8th March with the Panel to be announced on Sunday 15th March 2009. So that there is no confusion as to who is going to distribute this information I am asking the following people in each state to disseminate this information to their officials: ACT: Paul Taylor NSW: Philip Webb NZ: Stephen Bowness Qld: Tim Redshaw SA: Grant Martin Vic: Paul Mercer WA: Tom Marshman
Paul Mercer Operations Manager, AGOA
Planning on a visit to the UK to work games? Posted - 3 February 2009
Who can apply as a sports visitor?
Junior IFAF World Cup Qualifying Game - Australia vs New Zealand, 24 January 2009 Posted - 31 January 2009
Newsletters View the coaches newsletters from Tony Martin in Victoria and updates on South Australian officials at our news page. Nationals Series The 2008 Gridiron Australia Senior National Championships will be held during the week 26 April to 4 May 2008 at the Runaway Bay Sports Centre on the Gold Coast. More details will be made available as they come to hand. There is bunk-style accommodation on site with a common dining hall, all near to the playing field and pool. It is expected that cost and other details will be made available in due course. Find out about previous nationals games at our news page.
Gridiron Australia Development Tour August - September 2007
Last updated 3 February 2009
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