New Referees Begin Journey with ARLB

The Association of Referees Leinster Branch (ARLB) New Referee Course took place on Saturday last in Terenure College. The course was at full capacity and was facilitated by National Referee Manager David Wilkinson, with the assistance of Sam Holt (Leinster Referee Development Officer), Gary Glennon (ARLB Trial Member Manager) and Helen O’Reilly (Former Womens International Referee). ARLB Referee Katie Byrne spoke about her recent experience as a Trial Member and her journey on to the ARLB Development Group while ARLB’s IRFU Representative David McDonald was also present to welcome the new referees.

In total there were 20 attendees on the day who will now begin their adventure into refereeing.

Some of the topics discussed were:

• Pillars of Refereeing
• IRFU Referee Pathway
• Player Welfare
• Technical Aspects of refereeing, such as positioning and the scrum.

ARLB President Norman Carter addressed those in attendance, welcoming them to their new hobby and making them aware of the supports in place.

“It’s great to see new referees coming on board. They will all have the full support of the ARLB in terms of mentoring and coaching as they go on their refereeing journey, so they will be far from alone. There are opportunities for referees to progress and officiate at the highest level, but most importantly, they get to enjoy the game from the best seat in the house,” he said.

If you are interested in becoming a referee and taking up the best seat in the house on match day, please contact Sam Holt for more information.