Women in refereeing

Dates for your diaries from Amanda Bate:

"Two ref courses the new ELRA, in the SE and E regions are being earmarked for women, though men can go too!

50% Discount Entry Level Referee Course for women. i.e £20!

The RFUW are subsidising women on the ELRA course as we are trying to get 200 new female refs, across the country.

The two day courses are being held at Reigate RFC on Saturdays 21st and 28th April and Saturday and Sunday 19th and 20th May at St Albans School (Pavillion and playing fields, at the back of Old Albanians RFC.)

The course is the standard RFU new Entry Level Referee Course and will qualify you to referee club and school games and step onto the refereeing ladder. At the end of the course it is hoped that you will join your local referee society and referee matches for men, women, girls and boys in your local community. Referee societies often have people who are prepared to act as mentors for new referees and will always allocate you to games you are comfortable covering.

Book in the usual way here or via your club - this is the application form for an individual booking and there is one for a group booking.

Castlecroft knows women are booking on these courses for £20, so just send a chq for £20!

If you have at least 10 women all wanting to do a refs course together, let me know…refs courses can be arranged for groups.

Fast Track Programme

This England women v Italy match, saw the first ever team of 3 women at Twickenham Stadium Refereeing. Through these courses and other events nationally we are looking for 6 talented women or girls to be selected to take part in a fast track scheme where they will get a personalised support courses throughout the year and will be assigned a personal mentor from the RFU Referee National Panel. These 6 women or girls will be selected because they have the potential (physically and mentally) to become an elite referee, and will have the opportunity to work towards refereeing in the Women’s World Cup 2010 and 2014, Women’s 6 Nations and will hopefully go on the referee in the men’s game at Level 5 and above. This is a great opportunity for any women or girls who enjoy rugby but may not be able to fulfil elite aspirations through playing and may consider elite refereeing as an alternative pathway. If you want further information about this please contact Amanda Bate a amandabate@RFU.com or David Rose, RFU RefDM Midlands davidrose@rfu.com

Back to Refereeing

If you know any women who are currently qualified as a referee but are not actively involved with their local society or refereeing for their club, we are running a Development Course at the London and South East Conference on the 16th of June (venue TBC). This course will look at giving women the skills they need in decision making, positioning, confidence and controlling the game, so they can confidently go out and referee within their societies. If you are interested in attending this course and want further details please email me on amandabate@rfu.com

National Women’s Refereeing Conference

The RFU and RFUW will also be holding a National Women’s Refereeing Conference on the 14th and 15th of July. The cost of the weekend is £25 and has workshops around female specific fitness, nutrition, lines of running, controlling the game, psychology and much more. There is also a formal dinner for all delegates. You must be a qualified female referee to attend. If you are interested in going on the mailing list to receive more information please email David Rose on davidrose@rfu.com

Female Referee Ambassadors

We have appointed 10 women nationally to act as Female Referee Ambassadors. Amongst these are Debbie Innes and Claire Daniels who were both the touch judges for last week’s 6 Nations clash at Twickenham. Their role is to work with schools, universities, clubs and counties to promote refereeing as a pathway for women and girls. If you would like the contact details of your local Ambassador please contact David Rose davidrose@rfu.com