Sarah is the Dundalk Summer League’s first female referee
THE Dundalk Summer League’s newest referee is a Louth woman who says she would love to have the opportunity to adjudicate at a League of Ireland top flight game, perhaps in Oriel Park.
Sarah Dyas recently refereed her first game in the league last week between Rampart Celtic and Fane, with just one yellow card being shown. She is the first female whistler in the Summer League, a fact the Drogheda woman is very proud of, and the only woman referee in the North East.
Sarah, who has been ‘mad about football’ since she was a child, told the Argus: ‘I have been refereeing for a couple of years. I really love it and I really want to go for it and it was brilliant when I was told that I was ready to referee in the North East Football League, (formerly the MDL).
‘ The standard is fairly high in the Dundalk Summer League and I was delighted when they asked me to be one of the referees. Things have been going quite well for me this year and this is a new challenge.
‘I didn’t realise that I would be the first woman referee though, it was news to me!’ Sarah, like the other referees in the league, will take charge of a game once every fortnight. Her first game ‘went really well’.
‘ To be honest, the two teams didn’t really know how to act at first when I arrived. I told them: ‘Yes, I’m a girl, but don’t expect to get away with anything’. They showed me a great level of respect and I only showed one yellow card’.
Sarah, who is also a musician, played football when she was younger and remained playing while she trained to be a referee. ‘I really loved it (refereeing) and I was better at it than football and I decided to stay with it because I knew I could go somewhere with it’.
She trains with a group of referees once a week, endurance training and going through the game’s rules. ‘I want to go as far as I can with it. I train five days a week’. She would love to referee in the League of Ireland and would love to be selected for the next FIFA referee school of excellence. ‘Doing this is not intimidating, it’s great and has given me a huge confidence boost’.
I told them: ‘Yes, I’m a girl, but don’t expect to get away with anything’. They showed respect.