#Inspire – celebrating female referee’s in rugby
Annette Zhao has been a refereeing since February.
She didn’t even know rugby existed until she moved from China to the UK for university and joined a team there. She loves the mental and physical challenges involved in rugby and thinks everyone should give it a go.
In collaboration with our partners at ACME Whistles, we met up with Annette to chat about how empowering she finds rugby, how she stays motivated and why this campaign is so important.
Can you tell us a little about your relationship with rugby?
I didn’t know rugby existed as a sport until I moved to the UK and joined my uni rugby team rather coincidentally in 2013, but I loved it the first time I tried it!
It makes me appreciate my body and my strengths and weaknesses more and I love how inclusive women’s rugby is.
I’ve not stopped playing rugby ever since then – almost 10 years now and have managed to find a team that have welcomed me with open arms in each country/city I moved to!
I started reffing this year as a way of staying in the game in case I need to retire and to improve and encourage more FMOs in my area.
What was your first experience as a Match Official like?
It was wonderful and terrifying. I reffed my first game in the lovely English sleeting weather. My mentor from the ref society watched me while everyone else opted for the warm clubhouse.
I managed to finish the game after taking only one tumble and both teams thought I was ‘OK and fair’!
Tell us about your most memorable officiating moment to date.
I loved reffing my first women’s game! It was great weather and two equal ability teams and I had the opportunity to use my playing experience in reffing and even teaching the players a few laws!
Despite being given a yellow card, the home team players said I was the best ref ever, which made my day!
Who inspired you to take up the whistle?
The bad refs I’ve seen and the good ones! I just signed up for the ERRA course and got in touch with our ref society and two months later, I got my first game!
What motivates you to referee?
No ref, no game. I like to think I help make a game happen on a weekend and I do my best to be a better ref than I was in my last game.
I also think it’s time to actually be the change you want to see – if I want to have a good (female even) ref in my game on Sundays, I should do something to encourage more people.
In a few words, please tell us what it means to you to be a positive role model and INSPIRE other women and girls to get in to refereeing
Representation matters. I’d like to think seeing someone like me in the middle would encourage more people like me to give refereeing a go!
If you’re feeling inspired to take up the whistle, find out more about becoming a Match Official here: keepyourbootson.co.uk/referee-toolkit/supporting-match-officials-female/