It was seven years ago when Ryan Rogers joined the fold as a Thames Valley Rugby Union referee.
The 24-year-old told The Profile the most satisfying thing about being a rugby referee was being able to allow a game to flow freely on a Saturday.
Community involvement in the game and chats “in a positive manner” after the game were things he focussed on during club rugby, he said.
But matches in Thames Valley, let alone Aotearoa, weren’t the only games Ryan got to officiate.
That’s because the young referee from Waihī recently represented New Zealand at the Hawai’i International Rugby 10’s Tournament at Kapiolani Park, Honolulu from April 17 to 19.
The competition was for secondary school boys and girls in the under 18, under 16, and under 14 categories from schools, clubs and invitational teams.
Ryan said there were teams who competed from throughout the Pacific which included Guam, Hawai’i and the outer islands and a few from New Zealand as well.
And he was in good company amongst the other referees.
The skilled match official was invited, alongside 10 or so referees from New Zealand, by referee organiser Jamie Bell from King Country, he said.
“There’s a bit of a group of us that will go around and do quite a few of the Sevens circuits from the end of the year.”
The group of referees officiated at the Northern Regions Sevens competition, Condors Sevens and then finished off with the Global Youth Sevens, which was an international tournament usually held in Auckland, he said.
One of the ways the experience helped Ryan grow as a referee was it opened his eyes to the opportunities out there.
“If you put the work in, those opportunities pop up.”
Ryan said there were a couple of referee coaches who went over as well, and they watched the games, offered “ a little bit of critique” and feedback on what they could do to improve.
“You definitely learn a lot more when you have different sets of eyes watching and coaching you.”
This wasn’t Ryan’s first international trip as a referee.
He also got to referee previously in London and Wales, he said, where he gained a bit of experience to “bring back here” to New Zealand, he said.
But the work didn’t come without a few challenges.
“Club rugby is a lot harder than other sorts of rugby. The off-field stuff is certainly not ideal. The law keeps on changing,” he said.
But they currently had “a good thing going” with the union, where all the teams were notified pretty promptly about all the new changes, the off-field changes and conversations that made it easier on-field, he said.
While Ryan was proud to represent the Thames Valley, his concern for the nationwide decline in rugby referees was evident.
Ryan said some of the reasons for the decline were the amount of other sport options available, the rugby law changes and the need to keep up with them, or people on the sidelines that give referees a hard time.
“I was just lucky that I got into it young and was able to put everything into it.”
Another person in the Thames Valley Rugby Union was referee manager Wayne Berry.
Wayne, who had trained around 154 referees in the past four years as a referee educator, said there were referee education nights coming up in Paeroa, Thames and Whangamatā across May, June and July for people who were interested in getting involved in rugby refereeing.
“The two things that we’re looking for recruitment, we’re focused on adults volunteering to be referees. But now we’re deliberately putting programmes in place to assist primary and secondary school students to take up a refereeing career as well.”
It was clear Ryan was passionate about others getting involved in rugby refereeing too.
When he had conversations with others about the opportunities he’d come across, he said it meant a lot to see “a spark in somebody’s eye”.
It definitely means a lot to inspire somebody else to pick up a whistle, he said.
Ryans advice for others who are thinking about becoming a rugby referee is simple. “It’s a lot more enjoyable when you are invested into it,” he said.
“Definitely just give it a go, because you don’t know how enjoyable it is until you get into the full environment of it.”
DETAILS: Rugby referee education nights, contact Wayne Berry on 027 280 1444, E-mail wayne.berry@farmside.co.nz. May 20, Thames; June 3, Paeroa; June 17 , Whangamatā, July 1 in Paeroa.
