Decades of Change: The Rise of Junior Referees – Bruce Connor Feature Article
Published Thu 15 Nov 2018
Involved in the sport for over half a century, Bruce Connor has made a significant contribution to the water polo community in helping the development of our junior referees and coordinating at each of WPNSW major events. Bruce first fell in love with the sport at 9 years old and felt it was an easy progression into the sport from swimming.
“Water Polo offers something for everyone,” Bruce said.
Now as an established referee in the community, Bruce thrives off the satisfaction of helping others at WPNSW major events.
“Without being able physically play anymore, I like to do things to make a positive contribution to the community,” Bruce said.
“I get a lot of satisfaction helping others."
Throughout his refereeing experiences, Bruce mentors young referees to develop their own refereeing style aside from any difficulties they may experience on pool deck.
“I like helping the junior referees because it can be a very confronting experience,” Bruce said.
“Referees need to relax, decide the game to ref and ref that way. What we are looking for is a high level of consistency across refereeing and this tournament will be a good stepping stone for referees.”
Bruce has appreciated the increase of young referees developing in the community and does what he can to help with their refereeing development.
“There are a lot of young referees who a doing a very good job in their early 20s. Referees used to be a lot of older blokes but now we have a comradery of young referees.” Bruce said.
We are only 20 days away from the commencement of the inaugural NSW State Championships Festival!
Be sure to check out all the information here >> https://www.waterpolonsw.org.au/competitions/nsw-championships-festival-2018/
KAP7 Pre-Sale Merchandise for NSWSCF18 here >> https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?embed&eid=442932
Sport in Focus ‘Team Range’ Photography here >> https://www.sportsinfocus.com.au/store/event/2018-water-polo-nsw-state-championship-festival/?utm_campaign=notifications&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email
Sport in Focus ‘Action Range’ Photography here >> https://www.sportsinfocus.com.au/store/action/2018-water-polo-nsw-state-championship-festival?utm_campaign=notifications&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email
Written by Vangeli Kollias (WPNSW Communications Coordinator)