1. It's game day! We're the home team! What are we responsible for?
2. Do I have a referee for my match this weekend?
3. An emergency happened and we need to cancel our match. What do we do?
4. How do we ensure we'll have referees allocated to our home matches?
5. What is proper etiquette for interactions with the referee during a match?

1. It's game day! We're the home team! What are we responsible for?

Congrats on hosting a rugby match. A couple things you should keep in mind - First, make sure there is at least a five meter cushion around the entire pitch, specifically roping off this distance between the 22 meter lines. Second, have your team walk the pitch prior to the match looking for objects, holes, and other potentially harmful impedents on the ground that could cause injury - address these issues accordingly. Third, print out a match card, fill out your roster, and give it to the opposing team to be filled out as well. A referee WILL NOT referee a match if a pitch is considered dangerous nor if the match card is not filled out properly.

2. Do I have a referee for my match this weekend?

Please review the frequently updated Referee Allocations spreadsheet located here. If you haven't heard from your referee by Friday before your match, but you see one is assigned, you can contact them using contact information found here.

3. An emergency happened and we need to cancel our match. What do we do?

Things do come up, and match cancellations happen. However, before you cancel the match, make sure it really can't be played. If your reason for cancellation is you have less than a full side, you may want to reconsider, contact the other team, and still play a friendly. Perhaps the other team has subs they can loan to you. If you are the visiting team, you MUST let the home team and referee know by Wednesday the week of that you are cancelling. This will allow the home team time to cancel field reservations and aftermatch preparations as well as the referee a chance to be re-allocated to another match. Again, it is HIGHLY frowned upon to cancel a match simply due to low numbers. In the spirit of the game, all matches should have every attempt made to be played as scheduled.

4. How do we ensure we'll have referees allocated to our home matches?

In the Fall season, league play schedules are assembled by the various collegiate and union coordinators. Those schedules are ultimately forwarded on to the Referee Allocator for the Referee Society. For teams competing at a Midwest level, the same is true for league schedules. In the Spring, teams typically assemble their own schedules and ALL matches where a referee is requested should be sent to the Vice President of Competitions. The VP compiles a master schedule that will eventually end up in the hands of the Referee Allocator. For Summer tournaments, teams certainly can request referees from the Referee Society but oftentimes, teams will solicit specific refs privately for their services. It always pays to pay close attention to the Referee Allocations section to verify your match is listed and that a referee has been allocated.

5. What is proper etiquette for interactions with the referee during a match?

Referees should be treated with the utmost respect throughout the entire match, as well as before and after. The Wisconsin RFU and Referee Society have a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY for referee abuse. Encourage your fans to represent your team with class, as well as advocate that all players and coaches are respectful of referees' decisions and calls on the pitch.