Rugby tackles referee abuse
Rugby WA is working in partnership with the Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR) to stamp out the abuse of new referees through the Green Shirt Program.
23 May 2011
The green shirt allows players and spectators to identify new referees, with the intention of reducing abuse towards them. All new referees wear the green jersey to signify that they are a beginner referee.
The program was rolled out at junior and senior rugby levels throughout the club competition to raise awareness about this problem on Saturday 21 May. A range of activities took place over the course of the day at junior and senior locations, including:
- All junior referees wore a customised fluorescent green shirt developed by DSR to create awareness of the program; and
- Rugby WA staff chatted with and handed out information to all attendees across all junior venues in regards to giving new referees a 'fair go'.
On the same day, the Green Shirt Program was also launched at the Emirates Western Force vs Brumbies SupeRugby fixture at nib Stadium.
SuperRugby match officials Ian Smith, Nathan Pearce, Julian Pritchard and Emirates Western Force players Tim Fairbrother and Tevita Metuisela attended the junior competition at Britannia Reserve.
All SuperRugby match officials wore a custom developed uniform on Saturday night for the SupeRugby fixture as part of a strategy to promote awareness of referee abuse issues and to launch the program on a national stage.
Rugby WA is anticipating that the introduction of the Green Shirt Program will see a decrease in referee abuse, albeit that levels of abuse are currently deemed as low.
Rugby WA is also conducting research into levels of referee abuse in 2010 to measure the outcomes of introducing the Green Shirt Program.
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