Grantham Reserve at Seven Hills was swarming with people at 9.30am in the morning on a beautiful Sunday in Western Sydney . There was a junior 7s rugby tournament on hosted by Sydney Junior Rugby Union and it was the first tournament on the calendar for the year . I was invited on behalf of one of the senior referees in Sydney West Rugby Referees Association Garry Payne to chat to the man in the hotseat , Recruitment and Retention Manager Paul Fitzgerald .
It is the area of focus for Sydney West Referees Association to help grow the game with the recruitment of new referees wanting to be involved . They have a strong focus to grow numbers through attracting mums and dads into the mix
Referee in action . Photo : Sydney West Rugby Referees . and increase their numbers of referees which sits at around 100 . One of the problems is that only about half of these referees are active this year .
Sydney West Rugby Referees Association appoint referees for up to 60 games on a Sunday and 30 school games on a Saturday . Paul wants to focus on ensuring that the referees are properly graded before taking to the field , and they have the assistance of referees coaches to help guide them on their way .
They currently work very closely with the NSW Referees Association with Education Officers to ensure that they are well focused and well trained before going on to the field . With the large Polynesian community in the west , they are hoping to grow their numbers within this area and increase the numbers of female participation . There are approximately 10 female referees and six of them are currently active .
Paul hopes to see these numbers increase to a 50 / 50 split and hopefully we will see more female referees follow in the footsteps of Amy Perrett who refereed at the Rugby World Sevens and in the Olympic Games . Amy was also the first female referee to officiate a Super Rugby match against the Brumbies and Western Force .
Sevens rugby is a great way for referees to get some experience . They
get to referee live games for shorter periods of time which help them refine their overall skills . It ’ s a great opportunity for younger players or new referees who will be trying to get as much experience as possible and with the assistance of Referee Coaches helps them identify areas they can improve .
The Rugby Club Foundation give donations and Four N Twenty pies sponsor the referees . This has helped the association purchase cameras to track the referees to help them work on improving the finer skills , such as positioning in games .
Paul provides support to the referees which in turn helps in the retention of active referees . Garry Payne also assists ; he is an experienced referee coach and still actively referees within the association . Referees get great coaching on improving some of the skills from more senior referees . One way they do this is through education nights where they watch footage of Shute Shield and Super Rugby games to improve their overall skills and understanding .
The demographic of referees ranges from 13 , which the youngest a referee can start , right through into the 70s . The referees get paid too which is good for
Paul Fitzgerald with the Duck Man .
younger referees and more than covers the cost of petrol .
Most clubs are good with the referees as well and provide drinks and food after matches which is an added bonus . There is a great community feeling with referees and clubs and parents and coaches of teams .
The referees are sponsored by Headstart and currently run the Respect the Ref campaign . Pre-season training is every Saturday morning at Muirfield High School . If you ’ re thinking about getting involved , come and do the Law exam and get involved with refereeing .
It ’ s a great opportunity to give back to the community .
Sydney West Rugby Referees Association is the way to get involved .
Blacktown Warriors – for the love of the game
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
Some clubs get a lucky bounce . Or the rub of the green . But this was not the case for Blacktown Warriors Rugby Club . In 2021 Blacktown Warriors were promoted from 4th division back up into the 3rd division NSW Suburban Rugby competition . The season was cut short with COVID , and this hindered potential growth of the club .
In 2022 NSW Suburban Rugby had a competition restructure which included Blacktown in a revamped division 2 competition . The criteria for this competition was to field four senior teams and a colts ( u21s ) team . I commentated some of their games throughout the year and saw the club struggle with numbers and wanted to help .
So , at the end of the season , the club were really struggling for committee
Blacktown Warriors Rugby Club . Photo : Eliescha Louwrens .
members and needed a new coach to survive moving forward . I decided to put down the microphone and put my money where my mouth is and get back into the coaching circle to help this proud club with 45 years of history survive . I wanted to do a rebuild with the club to help it flourish moving forward into the 2023 season and beyond .
I was very impressed in my first training session at Alwyn Lindfield Reserve at Glenwood . Site unseen , without chasing any players prior to the first training session , we had 12 players turn up . That number sounds a little flat except for the fact that eight players were brand new to the club who nobody knew .
These guys wanted to play rugby because they love it . I told these players my plans for the year , which were , and still are pretty humble , and based around helping the club survive , playing competitive rugby and learning to love the game again .
And the players started coming from left right and centre . Players returned to the club . The vibe is very positive , and we set about making the club great again . The guys trained really hard ,
The boys in action .
and our numbers swelled to 25 players a session .
We played our first trial game on 11 March , and it was hotter than a Vindaloo from Calcutta . The boys did well . We had a cast of thousands and there were more players than Lemmings . Our second game on 18 March was a double header and somehow even hotter . My eyeballs were sweating !
The boys played short in two games due to work commitments and people probably melting on the way to the match against Blue Mountains .
The team showed something that I was very excited with . They were resilient . They did a good job in very oppressive conditions and showed character to push through the barriers to show themselves in very good stead that was praised by the
opposition coaches .
After this match we have a clear path and direction for the club as we enter the division 5 Suburban Rugby Competition . The players are excited because the hard work and effort with fitness training and conditioning and learning a new system of play is paying dividends . And we are beginning to see the rewards .
It is a very proud moment to see after two very tough years struggling with numbers to help make the competition stronger . The players this season have shown what it means to be a Warrior in 2023 .
If you would like to play for Blacktown in 2023 , come down to Alwyn Lindfield Reserve at Glenwood on Tuesday and Thursday nights 6.45- 8.30pm . The future is very bright in orange , black and white !
28 ISSUE 25 // APRIL 2023 theindependentmagazine . com . au BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT