RUGBY in Scotland would not be possible without the support and dedication of many volunteers, including match officials without whom games, leagues, tournaments, festivals and cup competitions could not take place.

The Borders' Rugby Referees' Society (BRRS), now in its 50th season, fosters the interests of refereeing in the Scottish Borders and provides referees to matches for affiliated Clubs in the Borders.

The demand for referees, at all levels of the game, exceeds supply. As a consequence the Society is always seeking new referees as their experienced referees make their way through the SRU pathway and older referees retire. The best source of rugby referees is local Clubs, with ex-players who may wish to remain active in the game following injury or retirement.

The Society has written to all affiliated clubs in the Borders asking that they try to identify any potential recruits, and ask that they contact it to take up the whistle. Some of their referees started their careers as rehabilitation as injured players and an aid to fitness (specific injuries permitting); some used refereeing as an opportunity to gain more knowledge of the Laws of the Game, and particularly how referees apply the Laws, which in turn made them better players.

The clubs can benefit by having their own volunteer referees providing coaching to mini, junior and senior teams with a referee's perspective on the game, and provide emergency cover (at an appropriate level) if the Society is unfortunately unable to allocate a referee to one of their games.

The Society is running a couple of Level 1 Referee courses over the next few weeks, and is looking to the clubs to publicize these courses for members to attend, with a view to becoming referees themselves.

Clubs are asked to refer potential candidates to the Society's Chairman, Austin Ramage (Austin.Ramage@tiscali.co.uk), Regional Referee Development Manager, Iain Heard (Iain.Heard@sru.org.uk) or Secretary Tony Leighton (tony.leighton@pirncraig.com). Their help in identifying and providing potential referees will ensure that it is able to meet all the fixture commitments in the Borders and develop their players.