He is less than four years away from the retirement age, but 61-year-old David Hodgson is hardly putting his feet up on the weekends.
A lifelong rugby fan, Hodgson is in his eighth season as a Bay of Plenty rugby referee.
He began while coaching JMC rugby, officiating games of college rugby on Saturday mornings before progressing through to senior games in the afternoon.
"My son went through the grades and I had played rugby in my youth and in president's grade until a serious injury put paid to my playing days," he said.
"I still love the game and wanted to be involved. When my stepson was playing 1st XV rugby, I made contact with a guy I knew who was involved in refereeing to see how you went about becoming a referee."