RUGBY
Lil Saunders picked a tough venue for her first refereeing assignment in Bay of Plenty senior club rugby, not that she had much choice.
When whistler Maurice Pratt limped out halfway through Saturday's Western Bay match between Katikati and Rangiuru at Jamieson Oval, Saunders was suddenly chucked into the fray.
Forty minutes of free-flowing rugby later, with barely a moment of ill-discipline to be seen, Saunders wandered off, ready to take linesman duties for the premier match between Rangiuru and Kahukura, satisfied with how she'd kept control. "I've got the last say, not them!" she laughed.
"They're all pretty good and I just talk to them and keep the communication up and they're fine."
One of only two female refs in the senior ranks - together with Eastern Bay's Exia Shelford - Te Puke's Saunders mainly controls school matches and the odd Colts fixture.
That's because she also umpires senior netball on a Saturday, while her previous adjudicating experience nearly defies belief.
Having recently moved back home after 25 years in Southland, Saunders has controlled national women's provincial rugby matches and recently partnered Shelford in refereeing the Black Ferns trials in Rotorua.
She's also refereed five national touch rugby tournaments and a world cup, and controlled an Australia v New Zealand women's indoor cricket test.
Chuck in the small fact she's also played softball for Bay of Plenty and her calm demeanour in the face of big, beefy senior rugby players becomes apparent.
"I think they listen to me better than they listen to a male.
"They're pretty placid - in nine years down south, I only had one send-off and two sin-binnings."
Meanwhile, the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union is targeting youth to help solve the problem of a shortage of referees.
With 350 teams involved in rugby games throughout the Bay of Plenty each week, low numbers of refs means the union is unable to cover lower grades of secondary school and Senior B club rugby.
Referee development co-ordinator John Kendal has responded by promoting an Introduction to Refereeing course throughout all secondary schools.
Otumoetai College already has four students in their first season with the programme, with 10 others recruited from around the province.
Female rugby ref makes surprise senior debut
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