Munster Rugby Female Referee Support Structure

A joint venture between the Munster Rugby Women’s Development Department, the Women’s Committee and the Munster Association of Referees (MAR) sees the establishment of a new initiative aimed at enhancing the integration and development of Munster-based female referees.

The Munster Rugby Female Referee Support Structure will contribute to the overall holistic approach to the development of women’s rugby in Munster.

The implementation of this new initiative is in response to the need for more female referees and match officials within the sport in the province.

Working closely with the MAR, it is hoped that the new Female Referee Support Structure will further develop the numbers and the quality of female referees.

The new support structure, which will be run in conjunction with the current MAR pathway which is currently in place for all referees, will consist of targeted recruitment, specific education strategies, mentoring, female-only referee courses and strength and conditioning work.

Chair of Management with the MAR, Adrienne Patterson commented:

“Working with the Women’s Committee, it was recognised that there are very few women in refereeing. It’s very much still a male-dominated area of the sport and while there is a lot of women playing rugby, and a lot of women becoming coaches, we’re not seeing the same level of interest in refereeing.

“So in order to encourage women into refereeing, we felt it would be important to have a support structure there to assist them in the development as they become a referee.”

For anyone who would like to register their interest, please contact Women’s Development Officer Ken Imbusch at kenimbusch@munsterrugby.ie or IRFU Referee Development Manager for Munster Chris Harrington at chris.harrington@irfu.ie.