Nepean Referees Group has today kicked off its female referee recruitment initiative and is encouraging girls and women of all ages to join our team in 2025.
The Nepean Referees Group recognises that on the back of the success of the Matildas and the Women’s World Cup, more females are playing community football than ever before and, given the right support and encouragement, many of those players can become great referees.
“I often speak to girls and women who are thinking about refereeing but they don’t know where or how to start, or whether they will have the time” said Nepean Referees Group Female Referee Liaison Officer, Liza Buckley.
“One of the great things about refereeing is that you get to set your availability to work around other commitments, such as playing football, school, and family,” she said. “This means that if you can sometimes only do a couple of games a fortnight, we work to find you games at the times when you are available”.
While all prospective referees need to complete a mix of online and practical training before they can be formally appointed to officiate games, there is support and mentoring available with experienced male and female referees to help build the confidence of new referees.
There are also established pathways for referees who want to progress to more senior levels of officiating.
“As we continue to see the rise of female participation in grassroots football, we are hoping to see a similar increase in the number of female match officials across the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Blue Mountains regions” said Ms Buckely.
You can find out more about how to become a referee via our webpage https://nepeanrefereesgroup.com.au/become-a-referee/.
Clubs can support the initiative by sharing information via social media, and by downloading and printing our poster here
