With the touch season fast approaching Touch Southland looks to grow its referee program ahead of their busy schedule. In a short recap Touch Southland Development Officer and Provincial Director of Referees Logan Tippett highlighted there has been quite of bit of work done behind the scenes to help new referees into touch and to better support those currently involved. A prominent goal of the upcoming summer was to double the number of referees but he did note it wouldn’t be easy. He touched on the growing struggle to find new referees in all sports and stressed the importance of referees.
“While many sports are seemingly in the grips of referee crises because of time commitments, sideline abuse among other issues we have been incredibly lucky with the committed group we have. Normally you may get one new referee come along per year so their pretty invaluable. However, like many other sports; players and coaches are really acknowledged and supported whereas referees can often be forgotten. We really feel it’s something we can do better because frankly without them we don’t have a game.”
Southland is home to New Zealand leading referee Richie Heap along with former World Cup representative Mike Saunders and other vastly experienced referees Lou Avia, Des Jonker and Paul Trainor. Logan who will be one of a couple of Southern referees hopefully making their national tournament debuts this year mentioned the appeal refereeing touch has and its own unique challenges.
“A lot of people are drawn to the speed of the game; you can’t sit back and take a lot of time to make decisions. You’re always moving, communicating with players and your aim is to make the game flow and be as enjoyable as possible. However, with the pace of a game I think it can also frighten those who want to get involved.”
October will see a great opportunity for those interested or those with reservations in becoming a referee with Touch Southland holding a Level 1 referee course on Saturday the 13th of October.
“We’re pretty excited to be holding a course this year. It’s been a long time since the last one and it’s a great entry point for anyone from former players, parents of players, other sporting codes referees or simply someone looking to get fit over summer.”
Touch referees will likely be busy as the majority are involved with the Queenstown and Invercargill Adult modules held weekly before Christmas. They also take part in a variety of junior representative tournaments across the South Island. If you’re interested you are asked to please check out Touch Southlands website for information.
Source: Touch Southland