Day out with the Japs...

Today I had the opportunity to referee the Regional Japanese 10s Tournament at AR-JAS. Japanese Association teams from all over Asia come down to Singapore to win the trophy. The tournament kicked off with a congregation of players and officials. Team officials were introduced and briefing to players was made. Weather was really unpredictable. It started off really cloudy with light drizzle at around 8am. At around 1pm, the sun came out torching. I was the lucky chap to have my game at the hottest time. Just as I was refereeing my 4th game at 2.30pm, torrential rain, thunders and lightnings paid us a visit for about an hour or so. I had to stop my game in the middle of the first half. And it was to resume immediately after the rain. The already muddy field became a swimming pool. With both players and referees going for mud bath. I became extra cautious on the contact, tackle and ruck situations especially when it occurs in the puddle of water. I'm afraid players going to ground head down first and having other players on top of him. He may choke and "drown" with that deep puddle. Therefore, I informed both captains that I will stop play as soon as such situation occurs. Unfortunately, that game has lots of stoppages. At the end of the day, players' safety is my utmost priority. Not surprisingly too, the injury rate during the tournament in high. I believe the contributing factors would be the soft (muddy) pitch and also players' fitness. Overall, I did enjoy myself refereeing today. I liked the way the players respected the tournament officials, definitely something which players here need to learn. The communication in the game amongst players were excellent. You can literally hear all the players talking to each other during the game. Again, a good game quality to follow.

"Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."

-- George Washington Carver, botanist

Injury