Junior touch refs ready for the season g Sport uardian

28 WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2014
guardian
Sport
the
Junior touch refs ready for the season
By Kendyl Drummond
A group of 20 senior primary
school students have taken on
the role as referees for the junior
touch competition at Goodman
Park after beginning their referee
training.
The year 7 and 8 students
were coached by Moeke Paaka,
who has long associations with
the sport, including coaching the
Motueka High School touch team
for several years.
Moeke took the students for
two preseason trainings, and with
the junior competition now underway, he will continue to train them
and offer support throughout the
season.
“We had a great idea that we
should train up senior primary
school students so they would
end up refereeing games here,
with the long-term plan of ending
up at the Riwaka competition to
ref,” Coach Moeke Paaka says.
“And who knows where they
will end up – just like Tim Lucas,
an ex-Motueka High School student who became the third top
touch referee in Australia”.
Two of the students, Kyle
Harrison and Connor Wilkins,
already referee at the Riwaka
Touch Competition, and have
both been asked to referee at an
upcoming tournament in Nelson.
“We’ve learnt the rules, the
game play and the hand signals refs need to use too,” says
Fletcher Packworth, who has also
The year 7 and 8 junior touch refs: (back row) Tristan Griffith, Conrad Savage, Kayden Richards, Kyle Harrison and Blair
Hamilton. (Front row) Elliott Frampton, Fletcher Packworth, Campbell Fry, Pa Ikin, Ryan Hay, Sophie O’Cain.
been training for the Nelson Bays
U15 Boys touch team alongside
Connor and Ben.
“It’s fun and it’s cool to see
some of the teams moves,” he
says.
Conrad Savage says he barely
knew anything about refereeing
when he began the trainings,
but now he feels more confident
and “it’s about having a good
attitude.”
The students ref anywhere
between one and four games a
week and also get paid a small
amount for each game, which is
an incentive to stick at it.
The district’s Primary School
touch competition is on a
Tuesday afternoon for juniors
and Wednesday afternoons for
seniors, and with the Riwaka
Touch competition on a Thursday
evening, Kyle and Connor have
been busy three nights a week
refereeing at all three of the competitions.
Moeke hopes that starting the
students from a young age will
encourage them to develop their
skills throughout high school.