Nor'West News: October 02, 2018

14 Tuesday October 2 2018
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
BATTLER: Ben
Stanbury is
keen to show
he can win
gold medals
in the pool at
the Transplant
Games on the
Gold Coast
this week,
PHOTO: TRACI
STANBURY​
Ben swims for medals at
the Transplant Games
• By Jacob Page
ON THE surface, Ben
Stanbury appears to be like
any other 13-year-old on
the verge of starting high
school.
The Heaton Intermediate
pupil, and soon to be Papanui
High School student,
loves swimming, camping
and playing Fortnite on his
computer.
However, this week he
is on the Gold Coast competing
at the Transplant
Games.
Ben was born with a rare
disease called autosomal
recessive polycystic kidney
disease. It means his world
is defined by his health.
Three years ago, he had a
• By Zahra Shahtahmasebi
THERE’S A history behind
Lyndon McKendry’s
referee whistle.
It was originally her
father’s. He started
refereeing in 1958
before passing
down the little
silver device to
McKendry. It has
now been in action
for about 60
years.
McKendry is the
Canterbury Rugby
Football Union’s
referee education
officer.
Like her, she
says women who grew
up watching their fathers
control rugby games often
pursued a refereeing career.
In spite of this, in the
Canterbury region there
are only four female referees
out of a total 200.
As the referee education
officer at the Canterbury
Rugby Football Union,
McKendry’s responsibilities
include recruitment
training and development
for all referees from Cheviot
through to Dunsandel.
She says the CRFU
would love to see more females
picking up a whistle.
“Rugby is a game for everyone
– gender shouldn’t
Lyndon
McKendry
SPORTS
liver transplant, and in the
next few years, he will also
need a kidney transplant.
Ben will compete in the
swimming events, athletics,
ten pin bowling and
chess on the Gold Coast.
He said his favourite
event is the 50m backstroke
and he’s been training
for months.
“I like to go fast and the
50m backstroke means I
can do that,” he said.
Ben said he enjoys catching
up with his friends who
also had transplants.
At the 2016 games, he
be a barrier,” said McKendry.
To increase female
involvement next year,
the CRFU plans to target
women who have played
this year, as well as former
players.
It will also
emphasise the
introductory
referee
programme You
Make The Call,
which offers
participants
eight level three
NCEA credits
in Christchurch
schools,
particularly girlsonly
schools.
McKendry says there
were many reasons why
men and women chose not
to referee, such as work
and family commitments
or feeling like they didn’t
know enough about the
game.
Koini Buli, one of the
four female referees in
Canterbury, said being
a referee was tough. She
still gets nervous before a
match, especially “if it’s going
to be a hell of a game.”
She says many people
didn’t understand that a
referee was actually an
athlete. Buli trains two to
three times a week with
a mixture of cardio and
won two gold, two silver
and four bronze medals.
His mum Traci said after
he won the medals, it gave
him a boost of confidence
which lasted a long time.
She said Ben would
need more transplants
throughout his life and
she was motivated to raise
awareness of the life-saving
impact organ donations
can have.
“At the last Transplant
Games there was a countup
of all the athletes and it
was determined that organ
donation had given them a
combined 2000 years of life
which is quite amazing,”
she said.
The Transplant Games
conclude on Saturday.
Encouraging women
to become rugby refs
weight sessions.
“It’s a full-time job.
You’ve got to train right,
eat right, and prepare
yourself mentally and
strategically.”
Buli has been hassled
by players and spectators
as a referee but said this
was part and parcel of
the game, regardless of
whether the referee was
male or female.
“They don’t expect you
to know anything. A lot of
the time it comes down to
their age rather than their
gender,” said Buli.
As a referee, Buli has
travelled the world,
including to Russia for the
women’s sevens World Cup
in 2013.
She would love to
referee test rugby one
day and aspires to take the
field alongside the Black
Ferns with her whistle
in hand. “If you can’t get
into the provincial rugby
teams, you can make it as a
referee. It’s not any less of a
position to be in.”
With the likes of former
Black Fern Rebecca
Mahoney now refereeing
the men’s Mitre 10 Cup,
there might soon come a
day when we see a female
refereeing in the rugby
World Cup.
•More sport, page 17
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