Sussex's rugby officials of the future get taste of big-time

Young officials from The Regis School, Westergate, Chichester High School for Boys and Chichester College took part in the event at Staines RFC.

After recently completely their RFU young officials’ award course, organised and subsidised by the West Sussex West school sport partnership, the students were invited to be part of the day.  

They were also able to receive further referee development from Adam White, the RFU’s head of young rugby officials’ development. He was very impressed with the West Sussex youngsters, saying: “It’s great to see these young students having the opportunity to put their skills into practice in a competitive environment.”

Also present was Amber Reed from the England women’s squad, who coached players and held a Q&A session with the young officials.

Once the under-13 event was over, the Sussex youngsters were taken to Twickenham, where they were able to watch the Barbarians match and see England women defeat New Zealand.

Giorgia Palethorpe, one of the young officials from Chichester College, said: “I enjoyed working with the RFU – it was such a great experience.”