Rugby PA is excited to announce a new approach to the recruitment, training, and assignment of the referees for all Rugby PA competitions. Participation continues to grow in Pennsylvania at the youth and high school levels, with the most recent fall sevens season seeing a 46% increase in registered participants. This growth has led to an increase in teams, matches, and referee demands. In order to address this, Rugby PA will create the Professional Match Official (PMO) program, which will handle all referee related responsibilities. 

The PMO program will launch in the Spring 2023 season, with applications being accepted starting November 23, 2022. Applicants are not required to already have their referee certification, as Rugby PA will host a paid certification and training day in January of 2023. Those selected for this program will be hired as part time employees through the organization, and will be managed by the Director of Officials. 

This new program will see a significant increase in the compensation for the officials, with the potential seasonal revenue reaching $3,000. Officials will receive $50 for every weekend they are available for selection, $150 for every XVs match, and $300 for every sevens tournament. A $1,000 bonus will also be awarded to any official who is available for the full 8 week season. Additional benefits include a full Macron Referee Kit, IRS mileage reimbursements, and payment on a weekly basis. 

As an organization, Rugby PA’s main focus is to grow the sport and to create more opportunities for children across the state to play rugby. Having a system in place to recruit, train, and manage the referees to meet these growing demands is imperative to its success. This program also provides the opportunity to build in more accountability for both the referee and participating teams. This will allow Rugby PA to improve the experience for all parties involved and address any issues of referee abuse swiftly.

“We are excited by the opportunity to create this new program to meet the needs of our growing organization. We know there will be challenges in getting things in place, but feel that this investment in the game will allow us to achieve our objectives and develop a better level of competition,” added executive director Dylan Hamilton.

Interested parties can find out more about the PMO program by visiting www.rugbypa.org/referee.