Neatly following on from the last post about football refereeing, Super league referee James Child was made the bold move to joining the twitter community.
The Part-time chartered surveyors last assignment, who started Rugby League refereeing at the age of 11 in his home tome of Dewsbury, was running the line at Warrington's defeat of Wakey at the Jungle.
He is one of the 7 full time super league officials who started tweeting earlier this year but has kept quietly under the radar. Although some tweets have given an insight into super league refs and their training regimes, little has been posted on specific games as of yet.
I have a lot of time for Refs, as they are never going to be able to please everyone, but you rarely hear them complain. Referee's engaging with fans is always something that I feel should be done more, as anything that can help fans understand why calls are being made (like the refs wearing microphones) and how the rules work is going to be better for the promotion of the game, and promotion of officiating within rugby.
James was kind enough to answer a few questions i asked him, which you can see below
Paul (@paull3v) - Im doing a small bit on you joining twitter as part of my blog, do you think you could answer a couple of Q's ?
James Child (@jamescchild) - I'll do my best depending on their nature!
PL - Thnx! Did you have to get RFL authorisation to join Twitter or any other social networking sites? Do they given you guidelines on what you can and cant put out?
JC - Match officials are allowed to join social networking sites but must adhere to a RFL code re posting etc
PL- Whats your relationship like with the players?
JC - Player relationship is on professional level & generally limited to matchday & occasional club visits/training sessions
PL – What would say that your greatest achievement is so far?
JC - Greatest achievement: TJ Challenge Cup Final 2006 (youngest ever CC Final official) & TJ World Cup Final 2008.
Pl – Which ground do you feel has the best atmosphere in super league?
JC - Best atmosphere: not always ground can be game-Wak v Cas '06 last game of season, losing team relegated - as good as Grand Final!
Pl – is it hard balancing the 2 roles of reffing then touch judging?
JC - Balancing ref & TJing is not that hard - it's 2 very different roles that also complement each other - I enjoy both
Pl – How much criticism do you get and does it affect you?
JC - Criticism goes with the job! You learn to be thick skinned from a young age so it doesn't affect you
PL - Really appreciate you answering the Q's!
I hope that fans of rugby league will welcome James to twitter, and treat him with the same respect that is shown to officials by our players. Rugby League is now getting great momentum on twitter, with new coaches, players and staff joining all the time. It is making Rugby League and players more accessible and relatable to fans, and this could lead to new revenues from sponsorships, live appearances, and monetization through advertising.
Follow him on twitter @jameschild
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