Issue 7/25 27th February 2025
BAFRA Newsflash | |||
BAFRA ANNUAL CONVENTION - SAT 22ND AND SUN 23RD MARCH 2025
We have now passed the final date for being able to secure accommodation at Yarnfield Park Training Centre at our preferred rates so, if anyone wants to attend the Convention and needs accommodation, you would need to arrange such with the Training Centre. We have received a few late registrations and are happy to report that registrations have reached 112 (as at Tue 25 Feb). As usual, we will advise the names of those attending separately so that you can check that we have received/actioned your registration application.
Please see below for information regarding the location and how to register.
Please remember there is no charge for BAFRA members to attend the Convention, with lunch and the evening meal on Saturday provided at no additional cost to our members.
Location
The Convention will be held at Yarnfield Park Training & Conference Centre, Yarnfield Lane, Yarnfield, Staffordshire, ST15 0NL. Yarnfield Park is a leading Training and Conference centre in the heart of the UK. I would recommend that you look over the facility on their website, where you can find details of the location and directions: https://www.yarnfieldpark.com.
Registration
You can still register to attend the Convention at the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/vRuGyBCGEe.
Finally, if you have any questions or queries around the convention, please drop an email to convention@bafra.info and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Ian Sneddon - Convention Delivery Team
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF BAFRA LTD
The Annual General Meeting of BAFRA Limited will be held during the Convention at 5 pm on Saturday 22nd March 2025. It is open to all members. A full agenda will be circulated to members nearer the time.
The deadline has now past for nominations for the Director posts up for election this year and the 2025 BAFRA charity. The charity vote will take place over the Convention weekend.
The following nominations for the Director positions were received:
Director of Finance:
- Mark Schofield #557 – Proposed by Emma Harris #236. Seconded by Ian Smith #624.
Director of Operations:
- Ollie Maskell #221 – Proposed by James Ford-Bannister #479. Seconded by Henry Richardson #25.
Director of Recruitment:
- Emma Harris #236 – Proposed by Graham Smith #149. Seconded by Henry Richardson #25.
- Susannah Taylor #335 - Proposed by Paul Sutton #312. Seconded by Nathan Coates #72.
Director without Portfolio #2:
- Steve Tonkinson #99 – Proposed by David Parsons #425. Seconded by Graham Coleman #177.
Please join me in congratulating Mark, Ollie, and Steve, who have all been elected unopposed to their board positions.
As two members are standing for the Director of Recruitment position, this will now go to a vote at the AGM. This will be open to qualified members; I will be sending an email out soon with details of how you can vote, including by proxy if you are unable to attend the Convention.
Thank you to all members who have nominated a charity to be the 2025 BAFRA Charity. There was an unprecedented number of charities put forward and this will be to a vote of the membership at the Convention.
Richard Moger - BAFRA General Secretary
BAFRA MEMBERS’ AWARD
Thank you to everyone who voted in the inaugural BAFRA Members’ Award. The winner will be announced at the Awards Dinner during the Convention weekend.
Richard Moger - BAFRA General Secretary
LATEST BOARD MINUTES
The latest board meeting minutes can be found here: eb20250215.pdf.
Richard Moger - BAFRA General Secretary
DISCIPLINARY UPDATE
There have been updates following two disqualifications last weekend. A Portsmouth Destroyers player was disqualified from their game on 23rd February. However the disqualification has been cancelled after the calling official withdrew their report. The procedure for doing this is in BAFA Regulation 5.2.4 and is intended for use in rare cases when you see a video of the incident and realise you got it wrong. If that is ever the case, simply email me with the details, a copy of the video (or where to find it) and details of what the video shows and how that differs from your original report.
Additionally a Stirling Clansmen player was disqualified from their game on 23rd February. However the calling official has withdrawn their report after revaluating the act and concluding that it did not constitute a flagrant act of Unsportsmanlike Conduct.
Ben Griffiths – BAFA Disciplinary Officer
discipline@britishamericanfootball.org
DISCIPLINARY CASES
NAME | # | TEAM | CODE | Q | OFFENCE | SUSPENDED | |
Previous weeks | |||||||
Michael Abera | 6 | UWE Bullets | TGC | 3 | During a free kick play, number 6, targeted and made forcible contact with the Crown of the Helmet. The present indicators of targeting were, a launch, leading with the helmet and lowering the head before attacking by initiating forcible contact with the crown of the helmet. | 2nd March 2025 v Loughborough Students | |
GAME MANAGEMENT REPORTS
HOME TEAM | REPORT | NEXT HOME GAME |
New this week | ||
Bournemouth University Bobcats | On the last play of the first half, there was a serious injury to a Bath player. On returning to the field at the end of the half time break it was clear the player still needed treatment and, after consultation, it was agreed between the Referee and the Head Coaches that the third and fourth quarters would be reduced to 0 minutes and the game was ended. Keith Wickham #423 | 2nd March 2025 v Kent Falcons |
Brunel Burners | Officials changing room is quite small and not private so gear was locked in cars. The car parking area is oversubscribed due to other sports taking place, so most of the crew were unable to park at the venue and ended up on a side road near the field. It is approximately a ten-minute walk to the field itself on Philpot's Farm Open Space. The field surface was very muddy and quite soft. No nine-yard marks or field numbers were present. Andrew Murrell #608 | 2nd March 2025 v Bristol Barracuda |
Edinburgh Napier Knights | A short delay to the start of the second half was required to relocate the official's assistants. The field was in need of some maintenance after being damaged by some local quad bikers. Ali May #42 | |
KCL Regents | The down box was still broken. The numbers do not show when selected. 90-yard field with eight-yard end zones marked faintly in blue with other sports markings in yellow, white, and red. No numbers or limit lines. Large shared changing room in SU but not lockable. Graham Smith #149 | Unknown |
Kent Falcons | Well-marked 90-yard field in red with other sport markings in yellow, blue, and white. Team area perimeters were marked out with cones. Rugby lines approximated for team area lines & nine-yard marks. No numbers or limit lines. The game balls supplied were quite damp so the away team supplied 3 balls as well and the best 3 from the 6 available were selected as game balls by the crew. Tim Ockendon #481 | Unknown |
Leeds Gryphons | Team areas were absent, but marked with cones. Pylons at the hash-marks extended were absent. Otherwise, a well-marked 80-yard field. Paul Todd #289 | Unknown |
Nottingham Green | Team areas were too close to the field. Brian Yates #29 | Unknown |
Portsmouth Destroyers | 90-yard field, now painted in pink. Team and coaching areas were marked with cones. At this venue, officials usually use a larger changing room but none were available, so a small officials’ changing room was used (suitable for three or four only) and the toilet, when flushed, backed up into the shower. At one point in the pregame, a soccer official walked in to use the toilet claiming it was "his room"! The game was suspended for around five minutes as the medic had to give his full attention to a worsening injury situation, but additional cover was quickly found. Oliver Maskell #221 | Unknown |
UCLan Rams | Field markings fell below full standards. No numbers or limit lines, no coaches or team areas. 100-yard field marked in dark blue. The lines were faded and difficult to see. Steve Hall #512 | Unknown |
Warwick Wolves | Game played at the University of Birmingham. No team areas. Field markings v. faint. Some gaps in the sideline, which had to be filled with tape to make the field playable. Jed Brookes-Lewis #395 | 9th March 2025 v Portsmouth Destroyers |
Outstanding items from previous weeks | ||
Derby Braves | Due to the field being shortened to 90 yards, to accommodate the correct size of end zones, there are still visible inbounds markings in both end zones. These are marked in black but the rest of the field has been re-marked in blue, so those are a different colour and are distinguishable between the two. With the score 20-0 in Derby’s favour, the Head Coaches mutually agreed to reduce the remaining time in all quarters to 0:00 due to DMU player number.. Krister Halvorsen #77 | 2nd March 2025 v Cambridge Pythons |
Kingston Cougars | It was a very long walk from the changing room to the field which was very muddy at one end. Keith Wickham #423 | 2nd March 2025 v Sussex Saxons |
Lancaster Bombers | 90-yard field marked in blue. Other sports were present, marked in white, which did not run parallel to the AF markings. Team areas were marked too close to the sideline. Lee Taylor #183 | 2nd March 2025 v York Centurions |
Sheffield Sabres | Pylons at the hash-marks extended were absent. Team areas were marked with cones. Otherwise, a well-marked 90-yard field. Paul Todd #289 | 2nd March 2024 v Sunderland Spartans |
PLAY OF THE WEEK: | |
New this week | Play: It is 4th and 5 at the B-25. QB A-1 is under centre. The snap is made and the quarterback touches the ball with his hands, but never controls the ball. The ball rolls backwards to the B-28 where running back A-33 recovers the ball and advances to the B-8 where he is tackled.
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Last week | Play: 4th and 5 at Team A's 25-yard line with 1:30 remaining in the first half. A44 takes a handoff and runs to Team A's 29-yard line where he is hit and fumbles the ball. A88 recovers the ball at the A-27 yard and runs towards Team B's Goal Line. At Team B's 3-yard line A88 begins a feet-first slide. A88's hand touches the ground with the ball at Team B's 2-yard line, his leg touches the ground with the ball at Team B's 1-yard line and his slide takes him across Team B's goal line.
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MECHANICS: | |
New this week | Game Situation: The game is being live broadcast. It is 6C crew. It is the end of the first quarter, which official is responsible for communicating with the TV liaison person to ensure the 2nd quarter can begin.
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Last week | Game Situation: Which official is responsible for informing coaches of the exact time when the two minute warning is called? Answer: M-20-2. The Referee must ensure that the captain and Head Coach of each team have been informed of exactly how much time remains in the half, not just that it is the two-minute warning. |
Date | Event | Contact for details |
2025 | ||
BAFRA Directors | |||||
President | David Parsons | General Secretary | Richard Moger | ||
Finance | Stuart Tabberer | Operations | Oliver Maskell | ||
Recruitment | Susannah Taylor | Training | James Ford-Bannister | ||
Director without Portfolio #1 | Peter Parsons | Director without Portfolio #2 | Steve Tonkinson | ||
The opinions expressed in this Newsflash are those of the contributors, and not necessarily of BAFRA or its Directors. All Incident Reports to be submitted via www.bafra.info. Deadline for articles submitted by email (newsflash@bafra.info) is midnight Tuesday. |
