The EFT would like to thank Derek Fisher for his dedication and hard work over the last 6 and a half years in taking referee development across Europe to the next level. Thanks to Derek, we now have processes in place for much of the governance surrounding refereeing, coaching and presenting which has led to an upskilling of everyone involved. Under his leadership, referees have reached new heights at international level and respect from FIT for what we have brought to the game, both on and off the field. We now have more active level 3+ referees and a higher number of female referees than ever, in addition to a diverse referee community supported by a network of national referee directors and an active European Referee Commission. The European Federation of Touch President, Ben Powell commented ‘Derek’s contribution to the sport of touch in Europe is unprecedented . He has embodied the inclusive and accessible nature of the sport within the referee body and each and every NTA is indebted to his leadership of an extremely successful European Referee Commission’.
