Bush Beat: NRL referee Belinda Sharpe paves way for other women
Group 9 whistle-blower Scott Muir has no doubts Belinda Sharpe’s sterling NRL debut will inspire his daughters and other girls to shoot for the top of the referee ranks.
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Belinda Sharpe’s historic appearance as the first female NRL referee will pave the way for other women to follow in her footsteps.
That is in the opinion of Group 9’s longest-serving referee Scott Muir — and he should know.
Muir’s two daughters, Sarah Jane and Emily, are aspiring referees in the junior and League Tag ranks.
The girls didn’t purposely aim to emulate their father but he couldn’t be prouder to see them pick up the whistle.
Muir has no doubts Sharpe’s sterling job as an on-field official in last Thursday’s Brisbane-Canterbury clash will inspire his daughters and other girls to shoot for the top of the referee ranks.
“Belinda has certainly pushed things along,” Muir told Bush Beat.
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Behind the scenes of Belinda Sharpe’s NRL debut
“Girls can now see that the NRL is within reach seeing someone like her work hard with her dedication.
“Belinda is also a very good role model alongside Kasey Badger.
“They present really well, they are fit, healthy and from a social media presence they are very positive as well.”
Muir had planned to retire from refereeing last season after 33 years and over 450 games but a mass exodus of officials forced him to stay on board.
Part of him also wanted to work alongside his daughters and see their progression.
“Whilst I still enjoy refereeing if it wasn’t for Sarah Jane getting involved in 2015 then I don’t think I’d still be involved,” he said.
“I think she has extended my career but it makes it an enjoyable day.
“I did the first grade grand final and Sarah Jane did the League Tag grand final last year, which was a bit of history in itself and a great opportunity.
“Our youngest daughter Emily has just done the first level referees course and she started off in the under 6s and 7s.
“She is now involved as a referee in Wagga juniors.
“They haven’t deliberately followed my lead but I suppose when you hang around referees enough you jump on board.
“It has been good though.
“We have a few fathers and their sons refereeing as well, so it is like our own footy club.”
Muir can see a future when a host of females will appear in the weekly NRL refereeing roster. He praised the NRL and the Country Rugby League for providing pathways for young women to pursue a refereeing career.
Muir pinpointed the inclusion of League Tag in the Group 9 competition as the perfect stepping stone for ladies to pick up a whistle.
“We’ve had open League Tag for eight seasons and we were one of the first country groups and that was because there were a lot of females involved,” he said.
“That has filtered through to our junior league tag, which has come forward in leaps and bounds.
“We’ve probably got three or four young ladies in our senior association and there is another 10 in the juniors as well.
“That isn’t just in Wagga. It is also in towns like Young, Albury and Temora, so it’s great to see.”
Originally published as Bush Beat: NRL referee Belinda Sharpe paves way for other women
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