Become a referee and take charge - WP Rugby Referee

Do I get paid?Refereeing at school or club level in South Africa islargely amateur with the referee receiving match feesto cover travel and incidental expenses. However, atthis level you should not be refereeing for the money!If you make it onto one of the referee panels you willreceive a game fee for each match refereed. SouthAfrica has four full-time professional referees and,in addition to being well paid, they enjoy frequentinternational travel, often staying in some of the besthotels and exotic locations. At the top it is a well paidand extremely rewarding occupation.Can I become a Testreferee?What is the BokSmartstory?Any sport participant runs therisk of injury and rugby is nodifferent. However, the BokSmartprogramme is one of the mostcomprehensive yet introducedinto rugby across the world,designed solely to reduce the riskof serious injury – particularly tothe neck and spine.All coaches and referees need toundergo the five-hour programmeand re-certify themselves everytwo years.The reality is that there are far fewerinternational referees than rugbyplayers, so to make it to the very topis a long and uncompromising roadto travel. But it can be done andSouth Africa has produced some ofthe best referees in the world. AndréWatson is the only person to refereetwo IRB Rugby World Cup finalsand Jonathan Kaplan remains theworld’s most-capped Test referee.It all starts with small steps andonce you have been accepted asa member of a provincial society,your success is largely in your ownhands. You’ll be expected to startat the bottom and work your waythrough the ranks. With hard workand some good fortune, it’s possibleto end up as a Test referee.3