Northland's only remaining female rugby referee Nevandra Straker, 18, has a passion for giving back to girls in junior rugby. Photo / John Stone
Northland's only remaining female rugby referee Nevandra Straker, 18, has a passion for giving back to girls in junior rugby. Photo / John Stone
As Northland's only fulltime female rugby referee, Nevandra Straker, 18, isn't feeling the pressure.
In fact, Straker is inspiring the next generation of female referees with a number of young protégées making themselves known at her under-11 and under-13 games.
"I have lots of girls come up to me afterthe games and have a chat to me because they only ever see male referees," she said.
"I had one girl last weekend from a Rodney team come up to me and say I inspired her to next year, when she can't play with boys anymore, try to get into refereeing, which is amazing."
Straker, who finished her final school year with Whangārei Girls' High School last year, is in her third season as a referee. After two female referees dropped out in 2018, Straker became the only women to be a fulltime referee in Northland.
Straker, a former rugby player of six years, knows how powerful rugby made her feel as a young girl. Photo / John Stone
The 18-year-old played rugby for about six years until she reached the age where she could no longer play with boys and wondered how she could stay involved.
"Women's rugby wasn't as big as it is now so I asked myself, 'what else can I do to be part of the game', so I got into refereeing and it's been great.
"I wanted to be able to give back to the sport because it taught me so much as a kid growing up and I want to help teach these kids how to play the game."
Standing at 160cm (5' 2"), Straker said she quickly learned netball was not for her at a young age as she transitioned into rugby's forward pack, which gave her a great confidence boost.
"It was good to feel powerful when I was growing up because I've always been small, I've been this height since I was 13.
"I'm a girl and I was smaller than most of the boys but I could still show them what I've got and it did help raise my confidence."
Straker said playing rugby gave her more than just confidence but the belief that she could become the person she wanted to be as opposed to the person she felt obliged to become.
While she's taking it one step at a time, Straker hopes to continue rising up the grades to become a senior referee on the global stage.
"Being an international referee is always a big goal, so far it's going well and it's what I want to do, it helps my fitness and it's a good thing to do on the weekend."
