Getting Started

If you are interested in learning more about Touch refereeing, you can read about the referee pathway and sign up for a referee course. We are always keen to develop new referees, whether you have experience in reffing other sports, you are a player who wants to increase their understanding of the game or you are just interested to learn more about the game – get in touch!

The ETA Referee Committee is headed up by National Referee Manager Robin Budd, Assistant National Referee Manager Jack Harris and the rest of the referee committee. Find out more about us and how to get in touch on the ETA referee committee pages. If you require any further information, you can contact us at refs@englandtouch.org.uk.

Click here to sign up to the ETA referee mailing list, which contains information on tournaments and events as well as news about upgrades, courses and more!

You can also join the England Touch Refs group on Facebook, where we post all our news and have a few lively debates! You’ll also spot ref news on the ETA Twitter and Instagram so why not give them a follow too?

England Touch has been working closely with Dr Duncan Mascarenhas, Associate Professor of Sport Psychology and Coaching at Edinburgh Napier University, to bring you an interactive, free and online course about Touch Rules.

Duncan is a well-established member of the Touch community and in the England Men’s 50s squad training ahead of the 2020 European Touch Championships, with his daughter Georgie part of the Mixed 15s team which won gold at the 2019 Junior Touch Championships.

This entry level module is written and owned by England Touch, and is aimed at juniors, new players along with parents and supporters, to help gain knowledge of our sport by learning some of the rules.

The course includes:
1. Basic rules overview and video of referee signals
2. Video and scenarios to watch and answer multiple choice questions
3. Why referee and opportunities available
4. Making you a better player

The course also contains a quiz at the end, to check the participants knowledge, and allows multiple attempts to embed the learning. It will be interactive and online.

Entry requirements: N/A
Duration: In your own time, online
Cost: Free of charge

How to get involved

1 To access the foundation course, click this link and register: https://open.napier.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=29

2 Once registered, you will receive an email (check junk folder if not received) and then you'll be able to see the enrolment option.

3 All participants will need this enrolment key to access the materials, enter the following when prompted - touchreferee1

4 You will then be able to see the welcome page and a number of courses. Scroll down to the ‘England Touch Referees’ link

5 Clicking the foundation level badge will start the interactive video quiz. 

6 Once completed, further down you will see the Multi-choice Rules Test link, click this to complete the next part of the course

Enjoy!

We are always looking for referees to come along to ETA tournaments!

Club tournaments

England Touch has a series of two-day and one-day tournaments held throughout the season. CLICK HERE to see the full list of dates. There will usually be referee coaches present at these tournaments, so contact us if you want more information on coaching and assessments.

If you are interested in joining us at an England Touch tournament in 2021, please don’t be shy – we’d love to have you!

Signing up to events

England Touch Nationals

The England Touch Nationals for 2021 will be confirmed in due course as we return to play following the latest coronavirus lockdowns.

To participate in any England Touch event as a referee, you need to be a registered member of the ETA. For more details, please check the membership page. If you are already a member, you don’t need to take any action: you’ll receive an email when your membership is up for renewal.

Robin Budd - National Referees Manager

Jack Harris - Assistant Referees Manager

Contact the team via refs@englandtouch.org.uk