When you go to a sport game you do not think about one person in a positive light but certainly in a negative one. This is the referee. During the game you might shout abuse at him/her. Even when the mistake is your teams not his. In this article, we will explore referee abuse in rugby league and why it must stop. 

 

The issue of referee abuse goes all the way from the professional game down to grassroots. From kids as young as 11 getting abused to adults but one thing that people do not think of is that these people have a life out of rugby league and families. 

15-year-old Jayden said when asked about how often he gets abused at community games he said, “I get abused at most games”.  

When asked who from he said “players, coaches and possibly parents but I could've mistaken them for the coaches.” 

He also said “The abuse makes me feel a bit angry, sad and like I'm giving up my time to referee the games and get abused for it it's not fair really” 

Finally, he got asked if he thinks referees should get more support and how could this be? He said “Yes. I guess by putting up banners like what they do at rhino's challenge” (at rhinos challenge the banners say “no ref = no game”) 

So, at most games that a child referee goes to he is going into an atmosphere where adults abuse him. The adults abusing these kids are supposed to be DBS checked. 

How do we solve this issue? This is the big question surrounding the issue, well as Jayden suggested we could spread awareness to let people know that without referees there would be no game. 

Another option is to increase the harshness of some of the sanctions so that there cis more of a deterrent for anyone who is thinking of abusing the ref. 

 

(picture credit Ceay photography).