Micheal Moore, one of our club referees couldn’t have asked for a better week! On Friday night Micheal was announced as South Down Juvenile Referee of the Year at the Annual South Down Awards night which was held in Saval Club. Micheal has worked his way up through refereeing circles and to date at the young age of 20 he has refereed up to Division 2 level and was appointed as the man in charge of the 2015 U14 A Championship Final, he refereed the U14 B final in 2014 and the U14 C final in 2013. Micheal was also the fourth official at the County Junior Championship final this year and was involved in all rounds of the Senior Football Championship games as either linesman, fourth official or umpire. Micheal also works closely with club inter county referee Brendan Rice and has acted as umpire for him on several occasions at big matches both at County and Ulster level.
On Monday night Micheal then attended the South Down Convention where he was appointed as South Down PRO, taking over from PJ Quinn (Saval). Micheal was nominated for this position and his name is well known in press circles due to his top class publications of programmes for club events and his coverage of matches. Micheal will have no problems in settling into his new role and we wish him all the best in this position.
Micheal’s final accolade of the week came on Monday night when it was announced by Chair of the referees, Seamus Walsh, at South Down Convention that he was one of only two referees from the county nominated to take part in the 2016/2017 Ulster GAA Referee Academy. This academy sees the elite from each county take part in an intense testing programme where they must pass a rigorous fitness and rules test before hand. Upon completion of this 12 referees will then be chosen to participate in the prestigious academy. It is a two year programme aimed at referees under 32 years of age who have aspirations to officiate at the highest level. Referees who have been nominated by their clubs must score highly in a rules test and also pass the fitness test to enable eligibility for the programme. Those who make it will attend quarterly workshops and will have the opportunity to shadow a referee during a National League or Championship game. Whilst not a fast track to Provincial or National panels, the Academy will provide the referee with the necessary tools to progress their career. We wish Micheal all the best in his first testing section.
