We encountered a problem with the bafra.org internet domain on Monday, which affected the BAFRA website and emails to bafra.org addresses. It was a strange problem because we got a server upgrade unexpectedly and had to hurry to move our existing services over to it!

The remaining issue concerns whether emails to the membership (including this week's schedule) have been received. If you haven't yet received your schedule (either directly from Phil or from your referee), please contact Phil by phone or via operations@bafra.org immediately. Also please be sure to confirm to your referee that you have received your assignment; referees please confirm to Phil that all your crew is OK.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you sent any emails to BAFRA that were bounced, please resend them now.

INCIDENT REPORTS: PAPERWORK AND ONLINE

A quick reminder of the procedure for submitting incident and other reports after a game.

Referees should keep all roster forms for at least 7 days after a game (in case of query). Thereafter they can be disposed of.

BAFRA REGISTRATION NUMBERS

I was approached at the Convention by two members, each of whom wished to change their BAFRA registration number. The only existing procedure for this was a now-obsolete policy from the early 1990s when people still wore their numbers and involved a charge of £30 to cover provision of the new number for game shirts in addition to an administration fee.

The Board of Directors discussed the request and they have agreed that a member may change his or her number for a payment of a £10 administration fee. They should first contact me to see if the number is available and if so I will make the appropriate arrangements with them. Please note that numbers outside of the 1 to 599 range will not be issued.

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

Congratulations to Lee Clissett and Alex De Val on completing the Induction Training Programme. Thanks to Steve Tonkinson and Dan Bridgland for helping with their training.

KIT FOR SALE

I have been contacted by Steve Hunt, a retired BAFRA Official, who has quite a lot of kit to sell (as detailed below). If you are interested in buying either the complete list or just some individual items, please contact Steve direct at avpg70@dsl.pipex.com

Davie Parsons
training@bafra.org

REGIONAL TRAINING MEETINGS

Proposed London

Several London officials have been kicking the idea of a London area meeting around for some time. The major sticking point is the lack of anywhere suitable to hold it. If anyone living or working in the London area can volunteer their home, or knows of a suitable pub in an accessible location, please contact Alan Dobson.

Midlands

The Midlands officials meet once a month on the first Thursday (next meeting June 4^th). Meetings are held at the Coopers Tavern in Burton, from 1930. All members are welcome. Contact Charlie Dean-Young or Keith Alldritt for details.

Solent

The recently formed Solent Officials Association is meeting fortnightly on Thursdays (next meeting June 4th) at 8pm, at Jim Briggs's house in Havant. Contact him on 023 9236 5232 for details.

Thames Valley

The next meeting of the Thames Valley Officials Association is on Monday 22nd^th June at 8pm, at Pete Parsons's house in Reading. Contact Pete for details.

Other local groups

Please continue to email newsflash@bafra.org with dates and locations of your future meetings. We remain pleased to see that local associations are coming back into vogue in places that haven't had them for some time.

MICROPHONES

The following teams are known to be providing a microphone for the Referee. If you are assigned as Referee for one of the following teams, please be aware that there will be a microphone available:

Colchester Gladiators, Kent Exiles, South Wales Warriors

If you know of any other teams that are providing one, please let us know.

Alan Dobson
newsflash@bafra.org

RESULTS

BAFL Premier

Bristol Aztecs 34-27 Farnham Knights

BAFL Division 1

East Kilbride Pirates 40-0 Merseyside Nighthawks

Doncaster Mustangs 42-20 Dundee Hurricanes

Kent Exiles 31-10 Peterborough Saxons

South Wales Warriors 24-0 Nottingham Caesars

BAFL Division 2

Clyde Valley Blackhawks 6-10 Edinburgh Wolves

Lancashire Wolverines 20-36 Manchester Titans

Staffordshire Surge 6-12 Bedfordshire Blue Raiders

MKC Pathfinders 0-67 Colchester Gladiators

Watford Cheetahs 13-0 Essex Spartans

East Kent Mavericks 73-6 Maidstone Pumas

Cornish Sharks 25-26 London Olympians

Hull Hornets 28-3 Highland Wildcats

BAFL Youth Contact

London Warriors 24-12 Bristol Aztecs

DISCIPLINARY CASES

Name	#	Team	Code	Q	Offence	Suspended
17^th May 2009
Chris Hartley	77	Berkshire Renegades	FGT	4	After the play was over, there was a bit of pushing going on, and then I saw 77 throwing a punch at an East Kent player.	30/5/09 @ Cornish Sharks
24^th May 2009
Gary Orr	45	Clyde Valley Blackhawks	TUF	4	Player committed two unsportsmanlike fouls.	31/5/09 @ Glasgow Tigers
No outstanding items from previous weeks.
Note: it is the responsibility of the individual teams to ensure that their suspended players serve their suspensions in the proper game (according to the BAFA Disciplinary Code), and any dates mentioned here are intended only as a guide.

GAME MANAGEMENT REPORTS

Home team	Report	Next home game
New this week
Bristol Aztecs	Both end zones 7yds deep. Some hash marks (especially at the upper end of the field) were not 1yd apart. On one side of the field, the coaching box line was 6ft from the sideline; on the other, it was 9ft. Neither side had a team area line. Yardage markers originally pegged to the ground 6ft out of bounds, were moved back to 12ft on request to game management. Changing room not lockable. Officials assistants provided only 5-10 minutes before kick off. Jim Briggs #31	14/06/09 vs Sussex Thunder
Doncaster Mustangs	Owing to work by the groundsman in the days previous to the game. it had not been possible to mark out the hash marks either at the inbounds or sidelines. In the end, this did not prove as big a problem as was first anticipated. Plaudits to both teams for an excellent, hard-hitting game played for the most part in a very good spirit. Tim Vickers #129	14/06/09 vs West Coast Trojans
East Kent Mavericks	The changing rooms were not lockable. Two members of the chain crew were changed at half time. Peter Parsons #321	14/06/09 vs MKC Pathfinders
Hull Hornets	Very faint blue lines. Home Team area marked from 15 yd to 15 yd lines. Only one set of goal posts; played with goal posts by rule. Down Box only 4 feet tall. 100 yd Pitch shortened 10yds as newly drilled hole for non-existent goal posts were a trip hazard. Only two members of the crew were paid (one in cash & one by cheque) as the second signatory had been called away. Plaudits to both teams for a game played in excellent spirits and congratulations to the Wildcats for scoring their first ever points! Chris Jarvis #10	07/06/09 vs Lancashire Wolverines
Watford Cheetahs	No 9-yard marks or field numbers. 3 - 5 yard lines re-marked due to incorrect original markings. Long grass with uneven playing surface. A stream runs close to one end zone; problems may arise with retrieving balls Brian Yates #29	07/06/09 vs Staffordshire Surge
Outstanding items from previous weeks
Coventry Jets	No 5-yard lines. Lines marked only every 10 yards. Game suspended 25 minutes to treat an injured Bristol player. Brian Yates #29	31/05/09 vs London Blitz
Plymouth Admirals	There were three separate incidents where the game was delayed for more than 5 minutes due to players requiring treatment for injuries. Russell Newton #324	31/05/09 vs Hampshire Thrashers
Colchester Gladiators	Both head coaches agreed to a running clock in the second half. Alan Dobson #308	07/06/09 vs. East Kent Mavericks
Farnham Knights (Youth)	Field still 78 yards with 10-yard end zones and NFL hash marks. Changing room still a long way from the field. Crew not paid. Simon Ryan #408	14/06/09 vs Maidstone Pumas

NEWSFLASH

This week's Newsflash was produced by Alan Dobson.

Dean Wright has recently moved house, is now waiting to be reconnected to the internet, and will be resuming normal service when this happens.

CALENDAR

Date	Event	Contact for details
July 3^rd -5^th (Fri-Sun)	BAFCA convention, Leicester. All BAFRA members are welcome!	president@bafca.com
July 18^th (Sat)	BAFA Board meeting	president@bafra.org
July 19th (Sun)	BAFRA Board meeting	secretary@bafra.org
July 20^th, 23^rd, 25^th (Mon, Wed, Sat)	Great Britain Lions tournament
September 19^th-20^th or 26^th-27^th (Sat-Sun)	BritBowl XXIII weekend (subject to confirmation)	operations@bafra.org
October 24^th (Sat)	BAFA Board meeting	president@bafra.org
October 25^th (Sun)	Patriots v Buccaneers @ Wembley
November 21st (Sat)	BAFRA Board meeting	secretary@bafra.org

Send updates to newsflash@bafra.org

CONTACTS

BAFRA Directors
President	Jim Briggs	president@bafra.org	General Secretary	Paul Sutton	secretary@bafra.org
Finance	Andrew Lovell	finance@bafra.org	Operations	Pete Johnson	operations@bafra.org
Recruitment	Ben Griffiths	recruitment@bafra.org	Training	David Parsons	training@bafra.org
Director without Portfolio #1	Dan Bridgland	dwp1@bafra.org	Director without Portfolio #2	Steve Tonkinson	dwp2@bafra.org

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.org.

Deadline for articles submitted by email (newsflash@bafra.org) is 2359 Tuesday.

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