Two touch football referees travelled to Mount Isa this month for Mount Isa Touch Association’s (MITA) 2017 grand finals at Kruttschnitt Oval.
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Kerrod Hall travelled from Townsville and Fiona Quinn from Mackay, to referee multiple games in the Mount Isa finals on September 6 and 8.
MITA President Kim Coghlan said it was great to have skilled, experienced referees.
Hall is passionate about fostering young talent, but says the best thing about touch is how localised it is.
“I think the biggest drawing card for touch football is we are so focused on local sport, and there isn’t the big pressure to be at national level, and all the stuff that goes with being an NRL or AFL player,” he said.
The two refs have travelled extensively though Queensland, all for the love of sport.
“We go everywhere, and it costs us a fair bit of money. Within our sport there’s not the same amount of money there. But we’re lucky coming out here, a lot of that is paid for,” Hall said.
“We do everything we can purely on the love of it. Money is just not a factor for us.”
Each year local touch associations contact Hall and Quinn to travel to referee games.
“Coghlan is usually the first on the phone to North Queensland Touch, to say ‘hey, finals are coming up’. They always like to have outside referees come in, because it just takes away the pressure from the local referees," Hall said.
Hall said coastal areas tend to have more experienced referees, because they generally have bigger and stronger competitions.
“It’s a bit easier for us to develop. When you’re as isolated as Mount Isa can be, you don’t tend to have high level experienced referees out here, or if there are, they tend to move away, or be playing themselves."
“I can’t play to save my life, so refereeing is a lot easier for me and I think I’m a lot better at it,” Hall said.