Rugby: Bay whistlers blow hot at top

Glen Jackson is one of a number of promising referees from the Bay of Plenty making a mark on the national scene. Photo / George Novak

Bay of Plenty Rugby have announced four of their referees in Glen Jackson, Nick Briant, Shane McDermott and Brett Johnson were named in the 2015 New Zealand High Performance squads.

Bay of Plenty Rugby chief executive Mike Rogers said it was fantastic to have such a strong representation in the high-performance squads.

"This is an area where we are continually punching above our weight and the union are really proud of these guys," Rogers said.

"The continued success of Bay of Plenty referees provides role models for an area that all sports face as a challenge, providing enough officials every weekend and ensuring they enjoy what they do."

Bay of Plenty referee manager Brent Jenkins has been impressed with the contributions of the four referees to the wider game.

"These guys not only perform at the top level," Jenkins said. "They all actively contribute to the growth of our local referees and are passionate about getting more people involved and picking up a whistle to see what it's like.

"We are very lucky to have four guys here who can mentor our aspiring referees," he said.

The impressive representation embodied Bay of Plenty Rugby's vision of "BayWide BayPride, Unifying and Inspiring the Bay of Plenty" and showed there were great opportunities to participate and achieve in rugby outside of playing the game.

"We look forward to watching these guys in action during the 2015 season and can't wait to see the next high performance referees come through the ranks," said Rogers.