What initially drew you to become a referee?
Love of the sport, I played rugby through primary school then I recently started playing again after turning 18. I had a feeling of wanting to give back to the sport, a new challenge and a foolishly watching from my sofa thinking “I could do that”.
Can you describe the journey you took to become a qualified referee?
I expressed an interest after seeing post on Facebook about an opportunity to get involved. I completed online learning about some technical aspects of refereeing, before attending a 1-day trainee referee course. The next step was shadowing a society referee, then I progressed through school and underage games whilst having a more experienced referee supervise me to give pointers. Once you are ready, you split a game with a qualified referee, taking twenty minutes each, and then you can decide if you feel confident enough to referee the last twenty. After your shared game, if it has gone well you become a fully qualified society referee. It is a well organised and supportive scheme.
What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as a female referee?
Size and physicality. Tt can sometimes feel a bit intimidating when you are a small women refereeing a group of big men. There is always the thought of whether a team aren’t respecting you because you are a woman.
How have you overcome these challenges and what advice would you give to other women aspiring to become referees?
Physically we just have to work harder than our male counterparts to get the same result, respect wise you just have to believe in yourself and be strong, just stand tall and believe in yourself as you can do anything you put your mind to.
Have you had any female mentors or role models in your refereeing journey? If so, how did they inspire you?
Joy Neville and Hollie Davidson spring to mind as they are showing everyone that females can be referees on the highest stage and hold their own and they really inspire me.
In your experience, what are some of the key factors that can encourage more women to take up refereeing?
Young female players seeing female referees on TV involved in the professional men's game with the likes of Hollie or Joy or even females refereeing their or their son/husbands/friends' game to show that women can do it just as well as men if not better.
What message would you like to give to young girls who are interested in getting involved in rugby, whether as players or referees?
Just get involved, it is a great sport with lots of avenues to find your place through 15, touch, 7s or refereeing, you will make incredible connections with the people you meet.
What are your hopes for the future of female referees in rugby?
More females at the higher levels of both men and women’s games.
What message would you like to share with other women on International Women's Day?
If we support each other there is nothing we can’t do and let's aim for a world where women are represented across all fields that were previously male dominated.
