Do I have too many friends to be a ref?

[brokendown gunfighter]

I lied about q 1&2

[GIGS20]

I'm not sure whether that makes you more or less qualified. you would think refs wouldn't care enough about what others think of them to bother lying
Posted via Mobile Device

[The Boab]

I thought you only needed one eye to be a ref ?

[.X.]

I thought you only needed one eye to be a ref ?

No that only qualifies you to comment or be a committee member for a local Rugby Club.

[NTT]

Go for it Jombi!
I reffed a few games last year and found it quite enjoyable. They start you off in U/12s or U/13s. The parents and coaches are quite good to work with too.
Look forward to seeing you out there.

[RugbyRef]

So I got the news last week from my ophthalmologist, I'm not allowed to play rugby.

Basically I've been legally blind since I was 16, when I got keratoconus in both eyes. Last Sept I got a corneal transplant in my right eye which has improved my vision significantly, and after getting glasses even more but high impact sports could lead to the cornea being rejected at any time which means I won't be able to fulfill my destiny of doing a Donald and sucking for 3 years then kicking the all blacks to the RWC trophy in a single match.

So I do want to get back into the game and just need some info. Now this may sound extremely stupid, but do they do eye tests for referees? (even I laughed at that)

Currently I'm just on the level of passing for a driver's license (got my learners last week!) and I know my sight will improve after I get my left corneal transplant towards the end of the year but I'd rather start ASAP.

It really does shit me that I can't play again but I see reffing as a way to stay involved, even though as my mates say I destroyed my chance at being an international ref by getting my sight fixed.

Do it, you'll enjoy being in a great position to watch the game, and help 40+ people enjoy playing the game they love.

Good on you for wanting to keep in the game new refs are most needed in Perth the current ones are totally useless well done and hope all goes well with your eye sight

Rugby WA suck please quit

Perth has nearly 150 referees, you've seen them all to be able to say this? Couldn't possibly be the teams, just the referees? Why don't you have a go, at least then perhaps we'll have one who is less useless.

A lot of you seem all too happy to knock refs (whether serious or in humour, it gets old quickly), or just cast us all into one stereotype but very few of you are willing to put your hand up and give it a go to stay in the game, or at least try to get an understanding of what it's about, and just agree with the idiots on TV who get half their opinions completely wrong anyway.

Go for it Jombi!
I reffed a few games last year and found it quite enjoyable. They start you off in U/12s or U/13s. The parents and coaches are quite good to work with too.
Look forward to seeing you out there.

I agree NTT, what harm can come from actually giving it a go.

I too became injured and wanted to stay in the game, I was too young to coach at the time (No senior team wants to be coached by a 21 year old, no matter how high they played), so I became a referee. Just like being a player or a coach, you will have good and bad games. When it goes well, it's a great buzz, you enjoy the game, you know the players enjoyed the game, and no one is talking to or about you.

When you have a bad game, or even make one decision that the players/fans don't understand/agree with, everyone jumps on you, it's so different than being a player where your team mates and coach will give you encouragement to do better next week and the opposition don't care. As a ref, you've apparently ruined someones game, the rest of the 79 minutes of the game no longer matter, nor the teams inability to get more points, just that one decision.

But at the end of the day, all the junior teams at Britannia and all the senior teams across Perth can't have a game without a qualified referee. The game can adapt and still continue with any other position missing, but not the referee, and this makes the need for those people, like yourself, who want to put something back in the game, and continue to be a part of it so important.

Perth desperately needs referees. At least you're willing to give it a go. Start with Jnrs and see where it takes you, or how much you enjoy it. if you are serious about it drop an email to secretary@rugbywarefs.com.au.

To the rest of you, why not try it as well, it may actually open your eyes instead of apparently making you blind, and for those who did try and have stopped, why did you stop?