Leinster vs Connacht

celebrating International
Women’s Day
Leinster Rugby celebrated
International Women’s Day
with a week full of activities.
Among these was a new initiative
encouraging members of the
Area U-18 Girls squads to referee,
under supervision, at the Girls
U-10 and U-12 Festivals on the
Friday night.
Among those who took up the challenge
was Blathnaid Smith, a member of the
PortDara Leinster U-18 Cup-winning side
and a member of the North Midlands
team in the 2022 Sarah Robinson Cup.
Joining, Playing,
Refereeing - A
Youth Player’s View
BY BLATHNAID SMITH
When I was about nine years
old, my dad brought me down
to Portarlington rugby club. We
went down one Saturday when
there were a few matches on and
it just went from there. I’ve been
playing ever since.
Once I began playing U-18, I was old
enough to be selected for the North
Midlands team, but unfortunately, I did
not get on.
That year, I realized how much I loved
rugby and was gutted not to be put
forward for the team. Then I decided
to work really hard for what I wanted
to achieve. So, I went running, and
practiced all my rugby skills to improve
myself as a player and a person so they
could do nothing but pick me for the
team.
As we went into lockdown in 2020, I was
picked to play on the North Midlands
U-18 team. We didn't get to play any
matches for the North Midlands that year
due to Covid-19.
My first match with the team was one
year later in 2021. We played Midlands
in Edenderry as a warm-up game. This
was to prepare ourselves to face them in
Donnybrook in the Sarah Robinson Cup.
We won that match and it was great to
be playing.
As a North Midlands player, I was asked,
‘Would I be interested in refereeing
minis?’ This was an opportunity not to be
missed as I love the game of rugby and I
wanted to help encourage young girls to
play the sport.
During my Transition Year, I had
completed the Minis Coaching course
with Leinster Rugby. I loved coaching
girls and I felt that refereeing was a great
idea.
I had a bit of learning to do on the
laws of rugby before then. We did a
refereeing module with Sean Gallagher,
the Referee Development Manager for
Leinster Rugby. It was a very informative
session on anything we didn't understand,
this helped to educate us further on the
laws of rugby.
It really showed me the work referees
put in in preparing to referee a game is
equally important as that of the player in
preparation for playing. It was great to
hear from people with lots of experience
in refereeing the game.
Joy Neville was a special guest; she was
a great player and a great role model
as a pro referee. I learned it's all about
fundamentals of refereeing.
With all this prep, we finally got to Friday,
11 March, the North Midlands Girls Mini
Festival. I was a bit nervous because I
wanted to do well.
I was amazed at the sheer number of
girls playing rugby in the U-10s and
U-12s, it was fabulous. I refereed the
U-10s where they know their rugby.
I wasn't sure if they knew what an offside
rule was. But, they explained it to me, it
was delightful for the girls to know all the
laws of rugby. The games were excellent,
the girls were driving with the ball, a few
dummies and steps mixed in. Everybody,
including me, was delighted when a
try was scored. It didn't matter if it was
against you or for you. Everybody was
happy to be playing rugby.
I would suggest minis rugby refereeing to
all players. If you are stepping away from
playing for whatever reason, refereeing
could be for you. It's so much fun and
time flies. It was a wonderful experience
and really enjoyable.
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