North-east refereeing chief Craig MacKay hopes three female match officials taking charge of a Breedon Highland League game for the first time will encourage more women to become referees.
History was made at Spain Park on Friday night as referee Abbie Hendry and assistants Olivia Crawford and Paulina Ruszniak oversaw Banks o’ Dee’s win against Keith.
It’s the first time three women have taken charge of a fixture at Highland League level – or higher.
Crawford and Ruszniak are members of the Aberdeen and District Referees’ Association, while Hendry is from the Angus and Perthshire Association.
Already this season, Crawford, Ruszniak and Emily Reid have made up an all-female refereeing team for matches in the Aberdeenshire League and Highland League Under-18s.
A big step forward
MacKay, who is the manager of the Aberdeen and District Referees’ Association, was delighted by Friday’s unprecedented landmark.
He said: “As far as we’re aware Friday was the first time three female officials have taken charge of a Highland League game.
“Hopefully more women will continue to come into the game – this feels like a big step forward.
“It was a big statement for refereeing on Friday night to have three women operating at a high level of football and taking charge of that game as a team.
“We want to show that within football there’s a career for women in refereeing. There are a lot of opportunities to advance in refereeing if you’ve got the ability and fitness.
“Hopefully what happened on Friday may raise awareness and encourage other young women to take up refereeing.
“It’s a great thing for refereeing, but also for the Highland League to have a full complement of female match officials taking charge of a game.
“The support the Highland League gives to refereeing is fantastic. It’s a very good grounding for referees coming through and we get good support from clubs.”
More referees required
MacKay is pleased with the quality of referees progressing through the ranks.
However, recruitment to meet the demand for match officials at grassroots level remains a major issue.
He added: “Recruitment of new referees is a big thing for us.
“There’s an avenue for young women to do very well in refereeing. Hopefully others are encouraged to come forward and take up refereeing, because there is a pathway there.
“All the referee associations will support every referee to progress as much as we can through Juveniles, Amateurs, Juniors, the Highland League and beyond.
“At grassroots level, we are still struggling and losing games every weekend. As referees progress, they move up the levels and we lose them at the grassroots.
“The progression is a positive thing because we have good referees coming through, but we need to keep the conveyor belt going.”
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