Congratulations to Dan Wallace who has been awarded Publicity Officer of the month for October…
Dan who became involved in refereeing twelve years ago, was elected to come onto the Referee Committee eight years ago. From there, Dan, who had an interest in social media and press was roped into becoming the Referee Publicity Officer three years ago, taking over from Alfie Acheson.
Alongside John Montayne, the pair set up and have been in charge of updating the Leinster Rugby Referees website which is designed especially for our 173 referees around the province. This website managed by both Dan and John keeps all those either currently refereeing or those interested in refereeing up-to-date with all news and courses related to refereeing on a provincial as well as national level. It was one of the first referee websites in the world. The site has been so successful since Dan and John, it won a gold award from Rugby Refs. Other winners include South Africa Referees and New Zealand Referees.
Dan who has also taken a keen interest in the social media aspect, set up the Leinster Rugby Referees Facebook page which has grown to 722 likes. Similarly, the @leinsterreferee twitter account has grown to 1,553 since Dan’s arrival.
When questioned what one of the highlights was since Dan started in this voluntary position, he mentioned ‘When Helen O’Reilly was appointed Women’s Rugby World Cup slot in the semi-final between France and Canada in Stade Jean Bouin. This was a fantastic achievement for her having only taken up refereeing four years previously in 2010 after 12 years career. It was such a fantastic news story and a great way for us to showcase how somebody can get involved and reach a global refereeing level in such a short space of time’.
Dan, winner of this month’s PRO award is looking forward to coming to the RDS on Sunday the 19th to be honoured at the Leinster V Wasps game. Dan will get to meet some Leinster players as well as a pair of Committee Box tickets, two bottles of Wolf Blass and a €;50 Mao voucher. The Referees PRO’s added ‘I’m delighted and totally wasn’t expecting this award’.
Publicity Officers for every section and area of rugby can win this monthly award by promoting your club or section across as many forums as possible. Check out our PRO handbook for some information for some ideas and guidelines on submission deadlines to Leinster Rugby and our channels of promotion.
