Five local students receive ARU Referee Scholarships

Five students from the Canberra region have been awarded Australian Rugby Union (ARU) Refereeing Scholarships for 2009.

The ARU identifies a small group of talented referees each year to receive the refereeing scholarship. The ACT has received outstanding recognition with Melissa Barrenger (MacKillop College), Cameron King (Hawker College), Cameron Meek (Hawker College), Dominic McCarthy (Trinity Grammar, Goulburn) and Alec Slader (Marist College) receiving scholarships this year.

The budding students will be presented with their jersey by Australian Investec Super 14 and IRB referee Matt Goddard prior to CA Brumbies’ game against the Blues on Saturday, 9 May.

Each of the student referees will be involved in a range of developmental activities at both local and national level, including providing assistance for senior referees at CA Brumbies Investec Super 14 matches.

The students will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of professional referee Brett Bowden, who has continued his involvement in the top level as an assistant referee this season and worked closely with Andy Friend and the CA Brumbies on discipline and interpretation at the breakdown.

“The scholarships program is providing a strong pathway for young referees to advance to the professional level,” Bowden said. “The scholarship provides a great starting point for young referees to advance to the national referees’ panel or the national academy team.”

“I’ve been very fortunate to start my refereeing in the ACT. ACT Referees probably have the best referee coaching support in Australia, with Brendan McCormick being an active IRB referee coach performance reviewer last year.

“Refereeing is fantastic fun and a great way to be involved in rugby. Being on the field with some of the best players in the world and watching some of those brilliant skills is the most rewarding part about being a referee and being involved at the Super 14 level.”

“I encourage anyone who has a sense for the game, is fit and enjoys travelling the world to consider refereeing.”