Richmond’s Courtney Hawke is the only female from New Zealand to be selected to referee at the upcoming Youth Touch World Cup in Malaysia, in August.
Courtney will be joining seven other Kiwis, as part of a 40-member team of referees, to officiate at the event. The ex-Waimea College student, who now studies health science at Otago University, says she is pretty excited about going, “I went to the last one, years ago, and saw the other refs representing, I never thought that it would be me in four years’ time!”
Playing the sport from a very young age, Courtney says it was her dad that got it all going, “My dad coached my brother, so we would get dragged along to the games, and it started from there. I am hoping to get to the Open World Cup next year, and to complete my Open Level 4 certificate, but that is still a few years away. I need more experience and exposure to the sport.” With family still living in the district, Courtney says her brother Blake is following her lead. “Blake just got his level one referee’s certificate, so I better watch out, he is catching up! He is the same age I was when I started refereeing.”
Courtney says there is a noticeable shortage of female referees in New Zealand, and hopes to inspire young females to get involved. “The number of female refs is really limited in New Zealand and that’s what drove me to start with it. I think it is due to the amount of pressure that comes with it, no one like to be told they have done something wrong, especially in that environment, so I think that is hard for people to deal with. I hope to see some young blood coming through and taking it up.”