The IJA Women in Sport Commission, along with the IJA Refereeing Commission is delighted to support Sarah O’Gara on her fast track programme to International Refereeing. Thanks of course to Sport Ireland who make this support possible through the Women in Sport Funding.

Enjoy Sarah’s report of her experience at the Welsh Open, September 2024 which is below:

Junior/Senior Welsh Open 2024 – Sarah O’Gara Referee Report

I refereed at the Junior & Senior Welsh Open 2024 on the 15th September 2024 along with Chris Hickey who agreed to travel with me as a mentor. The Welsh Open is a British Judo Association (BJA) Level 4 event held in the Sport Wales National Centre, Cardiff. This was my first time refereeing at an event outside of Ireland and an opportunity for me to progress further through my refereeing career.

As a level 4 event, this is used as an assessment event for BJA referees. This meant the level of referees present was quite high and gave me an opportunity to learn from some of the BJA’s top referees. I was assigned to mat 2 with Martin Rivers (International Referee/IJF A) and some other BJA referees. Overall the day of refereeing went very well and I enjoyed the opportunity to learn and gain more experience at high level events. Although the level of event came with additional pressure to make sure decisions I made as a referee were correct, I enjoyed the challenge. I received some very positive feedback from Martin in regards to my refereeing throughout the day and felt it was a step in the right direction for my refereeing progression.

Some positives I received about my refereeing were:

  • My scoring was very good, with very few scores needing to be changed or reviewed.
  • My knowledge of the rules was excellent with the other referees having confidence in my judgement.
  • Overall my refereeing was very good and it was evident that I knew my stuff.

Some areas I could make improvements were:

  • To have more confidence while in the centre of the mat. At times I seemed uncertain or nervous even though I had no reason to be.
  • To hold my hand signals for slightly longer to ensure everyone has definitely seen and understood the decision.
  • To watch my positioning when the fight is transitioning to ne-waza so I don’t need to chase the fight, although this only happened on the rare occasion.
  • Sometimes I called matte a bit too soon when players were at the edge of the mat but generally this improved as the day went on and I became better at judging the direction of the players.