Lots of rugby lined up in Aberdeenshire this week kicking off with two BUCS games on Wednesday followed on by a range of matches on Saturday. Good luck to everyone involved 🏉

HAMISH ON TOUR Last weekend, Hamish had his first voyage over to the Island of Horses, Orkney. A great game of rugby between Orkney and Aberdeen Grammar with the visitors snatching a late win, 32-45 scoring 3 tries in the last 5 mins. A huge thank you to Orkney for being such good hosts, good food, good drink and busy sidelines. After the game, Hamish took advantage of a late flight to wander Kirkwall, meeting some family and visiting the Highland Park Distillery. Unfortunately, the distillery was being refurbished, so he will 'have' to visit again... or so he says. A big thanks to @flyloganair for great service, Hamish enjoyed his complimentary Tunnocks Waffer. One of the best parts of becoming a referee is the opportunity to visit parts of the country that you prehaps wouldn't visit normally, and the island visits are big highlight. #rugby #rugbyref #refsontout #northeastrugby #mishontour #reffamily #scottishrugby

ADRRS Dinner and awards night. It was a very enjoyable evening last week, celebrating the end of one season and the commencement of a new season. It was an evening full of conversation, laughter, good food, and plenty of drink. During the evening, our President, Vernon, awarded the ADRRS awards Match Offical Coach of the Year - Gary Duncan Gary was a well deserving recipient of the first Coach of the Year award. His work over the past few seasons with Alistair Hunter has resulted in his rapid growth and promotion onto the panel. Over the next season, Gary will be working with a group of panel referees looking to impart his wisdom. ADRRS Member of the year - Alick Bergman This is the oldest award in society, and Alick is a worthy winner. Over the last season, in addition to his endeavours on the pitch, Alick has also been working hard behind the scenes. He was key in organising our evenings with Hollie and Sam, and also serting up and maintaining the ADRRS website. The Presidents award - Alasdair Cochrane Another new award for this season, Alasdair, has worked extremely hard this season, turning out on Saturdays Sundays and Wednesdays to help with youth, school, and uni games. Alasdair leaves us this season as he continues his journey with the West society. Our loss is the West's gain. Match Official of the Year - Cameron DM This season, Camero has continued his progression through the SRU referee pathway, starting the season on the transition panel before being promoted on to the full panel by Christmas. Cameron was rewarded with 3 National 2 games this year, including the first National Aberdeen Derby in 25 years. As well as travelling the country, Cameon also helped out the local clubs, both with law workshops and officiating youth games. A huge thanks also to @corgswru for his key speech, which filled the room with laughter as he reminisced his days as a player, and match official. Thanks also to the club and society representatives who attended and made the night so enjoyable. A final thanks goes to @palmcourtaberdeen for hosting us. The food was spectacular and the service first class. Thank you. #refereerugby #rugbyfamily #reffamily

ASPIRING MATCH OFFICIAL This weekend a few of our ADRRS members headed down to Stathallan School for the SRU Aspiring MO course. In attendance we had MO's Fraser and Tom, Ref coach, Jamieson and educator Corgi. In the ADRRS we are very proud to have a strong team of refs, ref coaches, and educators. All of whom work hand in hand to improve MO performance and consistency. We are looking forward to hearing what the guys have to say from the course and seeing how they can translate it onto the pitch this season. #rugby #rugbyreferee #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby

EDINBURGH CITY 7S 2024 A great time for our 3 refs last weekend at the @edinburghcity7s a well run event, with time for the refs to let their hair down and spin some disks. Very thankful for the @chillezuk ice bath which was a blessed relief on a hot and sunny Saturday, and definitely helped flush out the legs ahead of the Sunday. Always great to get to get down to 7s and work, chat and laugh with our fellow refs from across the country. #refsontour #rugbyfamily #refereerugby #reffamily #rugby

New ITMO courses available on SCRUMS. Start your match official journey this off season.

Making friends across the world at the SVNS #refsontour #rugbyfamily

Community Game Conference 2024 Pt2 It was a busy day for Hamish as he met many famous faces, including Scotland Centurian Ross Ford, Internet rugby coach, Ben John, alongside JP Doyle, Pieter De Villier and Sam Grove-White. Mish also sat in some rather famous players' seats, making sure to let pesky scrum half's know who is boss, and got some practice in with public speaking. Not to forget his annual bosie with Bill McLaren. #asone #refsontour #refereerugby #reffamily #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #

Community Game Conference 2024 Pt1 Once again another great event at HQ with lots of learning to take into the new season. ADRRS had a squad of 4 head down to the capital to learn from experts JP Doyle, Sam Grove-White on referee positioning and mentality, and later Pieter De Villier about all things scrums. We were also treated to a live demo of the new T1 version of touch which looks very exciting and we will be dusting off our boots to have a shot at. As always the trip to HQ was full of networking opportunities, with our referee colleagues, coaches, SRU facilitators and partners. We have enjoyed seeing the event grow year on year and can't wait to see how it continues to evolve. Pt2 to follow. #rugby #asone #reffamily

And with the sun burn setting in after the AU7s yesterday the 2023/24 season draws to a close. It has been a very successful season for the ADRRS with Mike making his Premiership debut, Cam making his Nat 2 debut, Kewley and Alastair H being nominated for promotion to the Transition Panel to name just a few success stories. A huge thanks to our Ref coaches, Glenn, Andy, Jamieson and Gary, for being our sounding boards, tightening aspects of our games and helping us be the best match officials we can. A big thanks to our families for understanding our rugby obsession and accepting our absence every weekend. Thanks to the CRR allocations team Craig and George for their hard work all season ensuring every game has a ref and reallocating fixtures when circumstances change. We will endeavour to keep our calendars up to date 😝 A huge thanks to the clubs thoughout the Caledonian region, for your hospitality, respect and love of the game. Finally a huge thank you to our ADRRS colleagues for your efforts, time, commitment and contributions throughout this season. Special shout out to President Vernon for his incredible work behind the scenes and @corgswru for his workshops at our monthly meetings. Enjoy your summers off we look forward to seeing you all back in preseason ahead of another great season. ADRRS season 23/24 over and out #rugby #rugbyrefereeing #rugbyref #refsquad #reffamily #offseason #overandout

The Community Game Conference 2024 The line ups have been announced for #CGC24 with very interesting speakers for players, coaches, club officials and most importantly Match Officials. For match officials the key speaker is none other than the SRUs own JP Doyle. JP has reffed at the highest level at the 2015 RWC and is now in head coach of Scottish Rugbys high performance match officials. #Rugby #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #rugbyfamily #reffamily #northeastrugby #northandmids

A great day at the RGC 7s today. The weather was perfect and all the 7s was played in great spirits. There were over 30 clubs/schools playing across 3 age groups, so well over 300 players getting a run about. A huge well done to Team Ref, which had a blend of ‘experience’ and youthful enthusiasm. Some of the refs today were out in the middle for the very first time only having completed the ITMO course in the past few weeks. Other members of Team Ref included RGC staff who did a great job and are welcome back to the team anytime. TEAM REF Frank, Fraser, Alick, Alastair, Callum, Cameron, Finlay, Rory, Megan, Tommy & Harry #rugby #rugbyrefs #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #northeastrugby #reffamily

Once again a huge congratulations to Alasdair who was awarded the 'Community Referee of the Season' at the Caledonia North Community Awards last night. Alasdair has worked extremely hard on occasions referring unis on a Wednesday, leagues on a Saturday and youth games on a Sunday. He is always seen a smile on his face as he does his but to nurture grassroots rugby in the North East. #Rugby #rugbyfamily #RugbyReferee #northeastrugby #CaledoniaNorth #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #reffamily #CommunityAwards

ADRRS president Vernon and MRRS Dave leading a ITMO course for the pupils of Lathallan School. Great to see the next generation of match officials beginning their journey. Picking up the whistle does not mean the end to your time playing. Refereeing can help with game understanding and reading of the play, skills which are transferable to playing. It's never to early to start refereeing. #reffamily #Rugby #RugbyReferee #northeastrugby #northandmids #nextgen

#doddieaid2024 is over and the Caledonia Referees covered over 2300 miles. A huge well done to all of you but in particular Bryan for leading by example with almost 370 miles 👏 We also raised an additional almost £100 at our "An evening with Sam Grove-White"

Do you have any questions for Sam? Drop us a message and we will ask him on the night. Don't forget to head over to the Facebook event and sign up. #Rugby #reffamily #northeastrugby #northandmids

ONE WEEK TO GO!!!! Don't forget to sign up to our evening with Sam Grove-White over on the Facebook event page. Pass the word around your clubs, and come to enjoy some funny stories, chat with other players and refs and most importantly free food. #aneveningwith #northeastrugby #northandmids #Rugby #rugbyfamily #reffamily #RugbyReferee

Come along and hear about Sam's journey, from refereeing right here in the North East to traveling the world with the whistle. Sam's experience ranges from the world 7s series, Commonwealth games, to the URC and European Champions Cup. This weekend Sam is down to the StoneX stadium in London as he takes charge of Saracens v Lyon with Hollie Davidson and Mike Adamson running line with him. Still spaces to sign up over on the Facebook event page. #Rugby #RugbyReferee #northeastrugby #northandmids #aneveningwith

Still spaces available for An Evening with Sam Grove-White. Please head over to the Facebook event and sign up for catering numbers. #Rugby #rugbyfamily #reffamily #northeastrugby #northandmids #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby

Head over to Facebook to sign up. #Rugby #rugbyfamily #northeastrugby #reffamily

The moment you have all been waiting for. The big reveal. We are delighted to be announce our special guest is none other than local lad….. Sam Grove-White. Come along on the 31st to hear Sam’s story with us at the Palm Court. Sign up on Facebook or drop us a message. #rugby #rugbyref #rugbyfamily

A couple of clues for you today as to who our guest speaker will be on the 31st. Can you solve the anagrams and use the book to uncover the mystery identity? All will be revealed at 1300 on Saturday... Happy puzzling. #Rugby #rugbyfamily #northeastrugby #northlandmids #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #RugbyReferee #puzzle #anagrams

BREAKING NEWS Following on from the success of last year's "An evening with Hollie Davidson" we are once again bringing a special guest to the Granite City for one evening and one evening only. Who is is our special guest? Well that is a surprise for now... Head over to Facebook to sign up for our "An evening with ..." for free. What we can tell you is it will be at the Palm Court in Aberdeen, on January 31st at 1900, there will be food, a quiz and plenty of laughs. We look forward to seeing you there. #Rugby #rugbyfamily #RugbyReferee #northeastrugby #northlandmids #aneveningwith #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #surprise

No rugby this weekend as the refs are all Christmas shopping. Keep tuned for some exciting news in the coming days…. #Rugby #RugbyReferee #surprises #whatismishplanming #reffamily #northeastrugby #northlandmids

Go well Ian. Great to see former ADRRS referee Ian Kenny continuing his progress. As a young referee just starting out I had the great pleasure and privilege of learning from Ian at our monthly meetings (and on one occasion on the pitch). We look forward to seeing how Ian continues to progress. #reffamily

Dreaming of what could have been this weekend. Hope everyone stays safe though the storm.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT There will be no further statement at this time #savethemish #findthemish #refsquad #rugbyfamily #wedonotnegotiate #respecttheref

Your refs need you. Keep an eye out for our mascot Hamish who has been Cow-napped. This heinous act cannot go unpunished! #rugbyfamily #northeastrugby #scottishrugby

Got the rugby bug in the build up to the #rwc2023 why not take up the whistle.

Every season the ADRRS present the Friendship Shield to a club who have gone above and beyond in looking after the match officials. Every month the ADRRS members can award a club with a positive or negative point, these are then tallied up at the end of the season to decide the winner. This year that winner was Aberdeenshire RFC Clubs are judges on various factors including prematch day communication, welcome to the club, attitude on the pitch, attitude on the sidelines, post match response. Clubs do not get awarded positive points for doing the bare minimum but instead for going above and beyond in making a positive matchday experience for match officials. #winners #reffamily #rugby #northeastrugby #scottishrugby

#newseasonnewlook Our new kits for the 23/24 season. Definitely making a statement. #refsquad #refkit #reffamily #scottishrugby #northeastrugby #scotlandrugby #scottishrugbyreferees #barbie

A wee sneak peak at the SRU mood board for ref kits this season. Stay tuned for the big reveal. #barbie #reffamily #refkit #newseasonnewlook #rhubarbandcustard #bigreveal #moodboard

A couple of weekends ago at the Dundee 7s. A great event, well organised and very well looked after. Even booked the sunshine. A very fast paced start to the season definitely blowing away the cobwebs. #rugby #rugbyrefereeing #rugbyref #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #northandmids #northeastrugby #dc7s #mishontour

The new tackle height is live as of today. Please like share and make sure the news is passed though players, parents and coaches. The new tackle hight will be a big change for all of us and we won't get it right every time. We ask for patience and understanding as we try our best. Thanks Your ADRRS #northeastrugby #scottishrugby #rugby #RugbyReferee #scotlandrugby #workingtogether

Transition panel meeting at #btmurrayfield followed by a good few house plodding around Edinburgh enjoying the good weather.

Community Game Conference 2023 Pt2 There were a variety or presentations and workshops on offer at the weekend, from looking at the new tackle height, to tactical kicking, and "What to learn from Judo" to player retention. For the match officials there were 2 workshops, first a practical session at the DAM health stadium looking at how we officiate the breakdown, and what the pictures we see on match day mean. In the afternoon we were in the Up and Under (no beers were served) for a discussion on decision making. Focusing on the process of information gathering, idea identification, decision making, communication and reviewing. We looked at this at a number of scales from "is this a penalty" though to how we review games, both immediately and after a few days. It was really good to have @hamishsmales taking up though the day, providing clear information and great insights from the top level. Swipe to picture 5 to see his new No.1 fan. 🤣 #Rugby #RugbyReferee #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #reffamily

A very busy Sunday for our mascot who had his first trip down to HQ for the community game conference 2023. It was great to see so many familiar faces from Caledonia region clubs and have a chance to discuss our sport without the pressure of match day. It was also great to catch up with our ref colleagues from the Highlands, Midlands, West, Edinburgh and the Borders. Lots of sharing experiences and learnings as well as the odd funny story. #CGC23 #scottishrugby #reffamily #scotlandrugby #northeastrugby #northlandmids #btmurrayfield #calcuttacup #doddieweir #doddieweircup #rugby #RugbyReferee #rugbyfamily

F I X T U R E S A R E O U T Set your alarms! Mark it in your calendar!! Saturday 26th August. RUGBY IS BACK #preseason #rugbyisback

R E S U L T S A tough game for Ellon saw them fall just short of promotion to the new national 4 league for next season. And with that we draws curtain on the 2022/23 season

It’s a big one. Ellon will dust off the boots one last time this season for the National 4 league play off. This match is being played at a neutral venue not at the Meadows.

What a season for the Kinloss Eagles Caledonia L3 winners, Caledonia bowl winners and now National Bowl champions. Congratulations. In the other rounds, Perthshire ladies came up against a strong Hillhead Jordanhill side and fell short while Orkney inflicted Gordonians 2 defeat of the league. One more match next weekend…

The final games of the season. Caledonia has 2 clubs representing at the National finals this weekend. Good luck to both @perthshirerugby and @kinloss_rugby_club in your Bowl finals. The other fixture this weekend sees Gordonians head up to Orkney to draw a curtain on a very successful campaign. There are also a couple of 7s tournaments this weekend, one at Perth and another at Howe of fife.

R E S U L T S In this weekends big clash, @shetland_valkyries overcome the @aberdeenshire_quines_rugby to secure the Tennant’s Caledonia North Region Women’s league. A big win for Inverness Craig Dunain saw them leapfrog Aberdeenshire Quines to finish second. A great way to end a season that could have gone with way. In other results @gordonian_rfc kept their super season going with a big win at Countesswells. While Highland 3XV and Strathmore also picked up Bonus point wins. On to the 7s season…

F I X T U R E S The last few fixtures to finish off the year. All eyes on ne the islands as @shetland_valkyries take on @aberdeenshire_quines_rugby in a winner takes all league decider in the final round of the Caledonia North Regional Women’s League 1. This weekend also sees the beginning of the 7s season

R E S U L T S Big congratulations to @perthshirerugby ladies who beat Greenock and progress to the national bowl final down at the DAM Health stadium in a few weeks. Other results across the region saw Garioch do all they could to secure North 3. Kinloss Eagles hit out next week needing a bonus point win to secure the league. In the ladies league both Aberdeenshire quines and Shetland picked up big wins to ensure the league goes the distance with them facing each other in a winner takes all clash on the 30th. This weekend also saw @gordonian_rfc crowned Nat 3 champions. Congratulations

Some big games across the North East as the season draws towards a close

RESULTS

This weekends fixtures

It was the southern Valkyries who came out victorious this weekend, check out the other results from the weekend too.

Battle of the Valkyries this weekend and also a top of Caley 3 clash at Kellands

Stirling County just fall short of the clean sweep of Caledonia youth cup wins with the U15 missing out by 1 point in just one of the spectacular matches last Sunday. Another cracking match was the U15s Shield which ended as a draw and sees both teams share the title. One again a huge thanks to all involved from the ref allocations team, SRU organisers, pitch managers and runners and @sport_aberdeen for the fantastic facilities, food and drinks. Most of all thanks to the players for having the right mentality, the parents for being supportive on the sidelines and my ref colleagues for giving up your day to enable the day to go ahead.

Results from the weekend

CALEDONIA YOUTH FINALS The first batch of pics from a full day of rugby at Shedocksly. Swipe to see our ADRRS old boys taking up their seats for a great Sunday of rugby. From their seats they were able to watch 3 of the 5 pitches simultaneously. Also hiding in the pictures is the newest ADRRS member, stay tuned to meet him…..

Whos this? Head along to the ADRRS tent to find out

Congratulations to ADRRS referee Alick who last week received the Community Match Official award for the Caledonia region. Alongside playing and refereeing Alick was responsible for organising our well attended Evening with Hollie Davidson event, and setting up and maintaining the ADRRS website. Well done Alick

Caledonia youth finals this weekend at shedocksly. A great event to get along to and support the future of North East rugby.

First fixtures of the weekend.

Weekend results

Garioch v Stirling County in the Sarah Beanie cup. ADRRS member Malcom in the middle with fellow member Andy running one touch line. A good game where thankful the snow held off.

Garioch v Stirling County in the Sarah Beanie cup. ADRRS member Malcom in the middle with fellow member Andy running one touch line. A good game where thankful the snow held off.

The woman's 6 nations starts this weekend, along side that we have league and cup games both Saturday and Sunday.

Some great cup matches across the North East last weekend. Looking forward to the youth finals in a few weeks and the next round if the National cups when they come around

Super Saturday in the 6 Nations will be a great appetiser ahead of a Sunday of youth rugby in the North East. The youth and ladies cup competitions provided your grassroots rugby fix

A few games survived the snow

Does the end of this season see you looking to hang up your boots. Why not keep them on and pick up a whistle instead. There are 3 courses coming up in Caledonia over the next few months. Sign up now on SCRUMS. If officiating is not for you why not try coaching or first aid. Rugby needs all sorts got the game to go ahead.

Fixtures for the weekend. There are youth cups, the ladies National Shield, a uni game as well as the usual league fixtures. Hopefully the pitches are clear and playable in the morning

The correct results from the weekend. Thanks to @shetland_valkyries who spotted the intentional error..... 🤦‍♂️🙈🤫

Lots more fixtures this weekend. Caley 3 has now split with the top 3 and bottom 3Aberdeen teams facing off against their top/bottom 3 highland counterparts. Also this weekend we have the early rounds of the ladies Cup competitions, the penultimate Caley 1 match, and the final rounds of both caley 2 and national leagues. #Rugby #RugbyReferee

Results from the weekend

Fixtures for the weekend.

Results from the weekend

Fixtures for the weekend.

After a great event last year where I bumped into a good number of north east coaches, and listened to Gregor Townsend, JP Doyle, and Kris Van Der Haegen. I am really looking forward to this year edition. It would be great to see even more coaches, players and MO this time around. Last years talks are available on HIVE learning

Important press release from the SRU this week. Please take note of the key consultation dates. • Wed 22/2 @ 19:30 - Nat league club representatives • Wed 22/2 @ 20:30 - Regional club representatives • Thurs 23/2 @ 19:30 Match Officials • Mon 27/2 @ 20:30 players, coaches and Directors of Rugby https://n.scottishrugbyoperational.org/i/rlXrhnuF1IpbS3RjelgXGOpwrvSOv3CdKweMtkNd6PD4ugyX1ssPtg

Technical difficulties over. Here are the results from the weekend.

Some technical difficulties this week, with no WiFi. So we will have make do with this for this weekend.

What a game at Twickenham but also some good games across the North East

As well as the small matter of the 6 nations kickig off, there are still games on in the #NorthEast this weekend. Unfortunately I was ahead of the game this weekend and prepared the graphics before some games were postponed. Games postponed: Deeside/Garioch v Moray/Huntly U18 Gordonians 2XV v Banff Highland 2XV v Aberdeen Grammar 2XV North Police v RAF Lossiemouth Fraserburgh v Aberdeenshire 2XV #Rugby #RugbyReferee #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #northlandmids #northeastrugby

Results from the weekend

Some pics from Wednesday night. Hollie holding a captivated audience as she describes her journey into rugby, then the bumps in the road that eventually led her to the rugby World Cup final. What’s next on the cards for Hollie? We will have to wait and see. #rugby #refereerugby #reffamily #scotlandrugby #scottishrugby #northeastrugby #northandmids

Fixtures for the weekend. #rugby #rugbyreferee #northeastrugby #northandmids #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #reffamily

It was great to see everyone at the Palm Court Hotel last night. We hope you enjoyed yourself as much as we did. Stay tuned for more pictures soon.

It was great to see everyone at the Palm Court Hotel last night. We hope you enjoyed yourself as much as we did. Stay tuned for more pictures soon.

It was great to see everyone at the Palm Court Hotel last night. We hope you enjoyed yourself as much as we did. Stay tuned for more pictures soon.

Only a couple of gamed survived Jack Frosts touch. Hopefully there is more to report next weekend

Fixtures for the weekend. Hopefully these games are able to go ahead and the pitches aren't frozen

Results from the weekend

What questions do you have for Hollie? Drop them in the comments or send us a message. Little over a week until the big day. #Rugby #RugbyReferee #northeastrugby #northlandmids #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #reffamily #HollieDavidson

We have 2 tickets to see Scotland v Wales in the 6 nations to raffle off on the night. Head over to facebook to register your interest. Looking forward to seeing you there

Some information about our wonderful star guest. Head over to Facebook to sign up.

Lots of rugby across the North East this weekend. What game will you be heading along to?

Some great games last weekend working off that Christmas dinner.

What a year our star guest Hollie had in 2022. What will 2023 have in store for her? Well one thing is for sure, she will start the year with us at the Palm Court Hotel. Will you be there? Register using the link below. https://fb.me/e/27gANvdfs

The first set of fixtures of 2023. #Rugby #RugbyReferee #scottishrugby #scotlandrugby #northeastrugby #northlandmids

We are delighted to announce World Cup Final referee Hollie Davidson as our guest speaker for our upcoming recruitment and engagement event! Hollie will be sharing her journey through the world of match officiating with us, and there will be an opportunity for a Q&A session afterwards. We would love to see you all there! Please let anyone at your local clubs who might be interested know! https://www.facebook.com/events/910056713696895/

Our first bit of exciting news. Our first recruitment drive will take place 1900 on the 25th January at the Palm Court Hotel. We have a very exciting guest speaker lined up who will not disapoint. Please share around your clubs and groups.

Another great boxing day match with the Exiles once again taking the W. Thanks to everyone who came along. Pictures credit - Gareth the Photographer

Merry Christmas from all of us at ADRRS.

No games this weekend for some reason.... However we do have a Monday lunchtime kick off. The annual aberdeen select v Exiles Game returns to Rubislaw pitches. Get along for a great way to wake from the Christmas food coma. #Rugby

Only one game survived the weather in the Caledonia region.