“We have a panel of 32 referees out of which 60 per cent are training on their own during this Covid-19 pandemic, and we are hoping to start training sessions from the 25th of this month, for panel “A” referees including Assistant Referee’s (AR) on Zoom technology.” said Tony Amit, President of the Sri Lanka Rugby Referees Association (SLRA) in an interview with the Daily News recently.
Initially this session will be with regard to the fitness and training conducted by former senior referee Rohan Fernando, which will be held between 4.30 p m to 5.30 p.m. This session will be followed by the “Breakdown Laws Application Guidelines” by referee manager, Anil Jayasinghe assisted by Irshad Cader
According to Tony, there was a period when six top referees hung up their boots. Due to this sudden exodus he had to seek the assistance of some of his senior committee members to overcome this situation by a method of fast tracking to identify the potential young referees, in compliance with Asian Rugby(AR) and World Rugby(WR) rules and regulations.With this move these young referees will have a bright future. But according to Tony these lads have to be dedicated, committed with integrity, discipline and should have the passion for the game.
Due to this recruitment of young referees, there were several complaints against them in the recent past. This is due to the inexperience of them which according to him will fade away gradually , by officiating in more matches. The schools, clubs and the officials of the Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) should be patient and grant them little time to transform them into top class referees, with the assistance of trainers, educators and Chief Match Officials(CMO’s).
Tony Amith a proud product of Zahira College, Colombo concentrated mainly on Cricket and later moved in to Rugby, where he maintains a rare record with his club-Colombo Hockey and Football Club(CH & FC), captaining the Rugger team in 1977 having donned the club jersey from 1972 and later officiated in Rugby Asiad in 1984 in Fukuoka, Japan followed by the same tournament in Sri Lanka in 1990. In 1991 he had the rare distinction of refereeing the prestigious Plate semi-finals at the Hongkong Rugby Sevens and also stood in as touch judge number one in the finals..
In 2005/6 he became President of Asian Referees society. He also has a level-3 qualification as the referee assessor and trainer. He officiated as match commissioner in Qatar and in Sri Lanka at the World Cup qualifying round matches in 2002.
As a coach he was instrumental in guiding CH and FC to clinch several titles from 1990 to 1993 including the triple crown in 1990 and 1993. He also coached the national side from 1994/96 where Sri Lanka won three titles including the Fiji 7’s where they beat Uruguay 24-12, At the Cargills 7’s on home soil defeating the Australian Barbarians to win the bowl Championship. They also became Bowl Runner up at Taiwan 7’s in Taiwan followed by the Al Ain 7’s Cup Runners up held in the United Arab Emirates. Tony expressed his gratitude to Y.C.Chang, late Daya Jayasundera, Dr.Maiya Gunesekera and Rizly Illyas who was manager of these teams which helped him to reach success. He holds a Level II coaching Certificate awarded by the National Rugby Union coaching Plan in collaboration with the Australian Rugby which enables him to coach senior club sides in Australia.
“I would like to thank my father, elder sister, my Brother in Law, masters and my former coaches who guided me to rise to his level.” concluded Tony.
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