Football is the world’s most played, most popular sport. New Zealand fits the trend with more than 53,000 young people playing ‘the beautiful game’ last season, not to mention all the adults who participate in various leagues.

While coaches and players are key to the game, so is another group - referees.

WaiBOP referee and FIFA Assistant Referee Sarah Jones, 27, has been refereeing since she was 17. She enjoys it, has developed skills from it and would recommend it to others.

“I enjoy refereeing. It’s cool and another way to be involved. I see all kinds of different styles of playing the game, as well as different skill levels,” she says.

Jones has gained a lot of skills from refereeing, the main one being confidence. Another is not caring too much what people think of her.

“They may call me the worst referee ever to my face, and I can smile back and say to myself, ‘Thanks, I think I’m amazing.’ Football is a game, everything is in the moment, and what people may say is not what they mean. Things may get heated, words may be said, but at the end of the day I’m out there to be fair to both teams so that everyone can have a fair, safe, fun game.”

And she highly recommends everyone becomes a referee – from players to parents – in order to either create confidence or learn the rules of the game. A good place to start would be on one of our Level 1 Referee courses. Click here for more.

Photo: Grant Stantiall.