When I first began playing rugby, I had only a vague idea of what a rugby referee looks like or does, and I definitely had a minimal understanding of the laws. The first game I ever played, we had a female referee who left no doubt in my mind about who was in charge of the match. We had her several times that year, so to me, a female referee seemed perfectly ordinary; I learned much of the game through running touch for her during the A-side matches. Unbeknownst to me, that woman would become my referee coach and friend, and I cannot imagine where I would be without Amanda Cox.
Years later, I would come to see that women match officials were much harder to come by than my naive 18-year-old self thought. The majority of officials I encountered looked nothing like me so it was hard to imagine myself ever becoming one and frustrating to play a game that I felt I had little representation in at higher levels. Then I had Kat Roche as a referee and began to think differently. I realized that young women like me could officiate a match and do it well.
Later, after I had torn my ACL and was on the mend, I ran into Kat watching a match and she told me how she fell in love with officiating and that it could take me places that playing probably never would. I decided then that I would do the level 1 course once my leg had recovered enough. In August 2017, I began my referee career and that following spring I decided to retire from playing to pursue officiating full time. Though it is an intimidating pursuit to begin, I had also fallen in love with the officiating side of rugby.
That is the story of the start of my referee career, but it is also more than that. That is the story of how seeing two women officiating matches changed the course of my rugby career. Just knowing that female referees existed and were in North Carolina shaping the game for everyone made all the difference in what I thought I was capable of. Without them, I don’t know if I would have ever had the courage to believe I could thrive at this. But seeing them—and eventually learning from and working with them—made me know I could.
Certifications
- Level 1 Officiating 15s
- Level 100 Coaching
- Laws of the Game
- Concussion Awareness
- SafeSport
- USA Rugby Background Screening
Organizations
- Southeast Rugby Referee Society
- USA Rugby Sevens High Performance Pathway
- National Intercollegiate Rugby Association
- USA Rugby Referee & Laws Committee – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subcommittee
Notable Assignments
- Assistant Referee/In-Goal Judge for 2019 World Rugby HSBC Women’s Sevens Series – Glendale
- 2019 NSCRO Women’s National Championship
- 2019, 2021 Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRCs)
- 2019 National Development Invitational Tournament
- 2022 USA Rugby College 7s
- 2022 USA Rugby Club Women’s D1 National Championship
- Assistant Referee at 2022 Women’s Premier League National Championship