Always regarded as the “must attend” event for the North’s referees, 2013’s NQ Champs was no different with 44 referees making the pilgrimage to Townsville for two days of the best Touch Football in North Queensland.

Such is the appeal of the event to referees, the NQ contingent of officials was joined by three referees from “the South”; Sunshine Coast’s Greg Kidd, Danielle Nunn and Hayden Smith.

For Nunn and Smith the NQ Champs has become somewhat of a regular trip, having attended the event for the last two years but, for Kidd, this year’s event was a brand new experience.

“For me it’s a total eye-opener, something that I’ve never had the chance to do before. I’ve been to plenty of tournaments over the years, but I haven’t enjoyed one like I have this weekend.”

The three aren’t the first to make the trek north to participate in the event, the event has regularly included referees from outside the region and it’s something that NQ Touch Executive Officer, Billy Grant, is very proud of.

“We have a quality event up here and it’s no surprise that referees from outside the region want to come up. They know that they are looked after when they come up and they always leave wanting to come back next year.”

Adding to the appeal for referees is the fact that it is one of the only non-state events in the country to be endorsed as a “Level Four upgradeable” event, enabling referees to be considered for upgrade to Level Four; another feat that Grant is proud of.

“We were endorsed by TFA for the first time in 2010 and since then we’ve had the chance to upgrade several of our referees to Level Four. We’ve even been able to upgrade some referees from down south too.”

This year, Nunn joined the upgrades list, receiving her Level Four badge alongside NQ Referees Chris Benstead, Andrew Watkins (Townsville Castle Hill) and Linda Miller (Mackay).

 

The North Queensland Touch Association would like to congratulate the following referees who were upgraded over the weekend.

Level Three

Karl Raffe – Townsville Castle Hill
Noel Lang – Mackay
Darryl Lyon – Charters Towers
Regan Cheetham – Mackay
Bob Pentacost – Cairns Pirates
Bradyn Boske – Cairns Pirates
 

Level Four

Chris Benstead – Townsville Castle Hill
Andrew Watkins – Townsville Castle Hill
Linda Miller – Mackay
Danielle Nunn – Sunshine Coast