Today, I’m joined by Andrew Rowland from Rugby Southland in New Zealand.
Andrew, who just stood down as chair of Rugby Southland Referees, joined me to talk about two initiatives they are running in the furthest south peninsula of New Zealand.
Firstly, their Referees of the Future Scholarship initiative – a new way of attracting young (and not so young….) people into refereeing. We look at what’s behind it, what the ‘offer’ is, and how it’s going so far. There’s some more info here on their 2026 scholarship awardees.
And then Andrew and I talked about their Chaplaincy offer for their match officials in the province. We talk about what it is, what it’s not (hint, it’s not what I thought it was!), and how it’s helped him and his fellow referees. If the word chaplaincy sends you down a certain thought route (as it did for me), then it’s definitely worth listening to what it’s actually all about.
For more about refereeing in Southland, head here.
If you missed the last episode with Hollie Davidson, then you can listen here or for all previous episodes, head here.
If you have any comments about this episode, or suggestions for future shows, then drop me a line at ref@rugbyreferee.net!
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