Union gets tough on sideline abuse

Northland Rugby Union's Trent Bocock, left, and Kyle Collins are behind establishing the new position of field manager at Kensington Park to manage sideline behaviour. Photo / John Stone

Aggressive and negative sideline behaviour by parents and spectators at children's rugby matches will be given the red card next season at Kensington Park.

The Northland Rugby Union is advertising for a field manager who will be charged with managing sideline behaviour during the Whangarei Junior Rugby season after a rise in bad behaviour over the last few seasons.

Up to 1400 keen young rugby players hit the paddock on a Saturday morning during winter and thousands more supporters cram the sidelines, with some of them expressing their objections too vehemently.

NRU referee education officer Kyle Collins said there had been a rise in match officials being abused at Kensington Park by spectators and coaches who took exception to officials and then became aggressive.

While there were always hecklers at junior sports, last season match officials were threatened in "some ugly incidents".

"The idea is to have someone there on a consistent basis to monitor the behaviour. We want the place to be a sportsground where anyone can go and be involved without feeling threatened or intimidated," Mr Collins said.

"Currently that isn't the case."

Most of the referees volunteered and used the children's games as training.

"We give them coaching and mentoring and the under 9 and 10 games are great practice. If they go along and get abused it puts more pressure on them than there needs to be."

Senior rugby teams were required to abide by the "Code Of Ethics" which required them to have a representative from the clubs who was the event manager attending to such things as looking after officials, watching the sidelines for bad behaviour and being aware of any issues with players or spectators.

Key qualities the role required were confidence in dealing with conflict and great communication and organisation skills. A passion for the game would also be welcome.

The field manager, a paid position, would also be responsible for setting up the fields and putting post pads on all of the fields and removing them after the games. They would have direct contact with rugby officials on duty if more action was required immediately and would also provide follow up reports to the Whangarei junior rugby board or the Northland Rugby Union judicial hearings.

"It's a kids game not the All Blacks playing out there, people have to remember that," Mr Collins said.

Applications close at the end of January and the job would start at the beginning of April.