Whistle while you work: Amy Perrett’s rise from bullied teen to Olympic rugby referee
In the boofy, blokey realm of rugby union, Amy Perrett is carving a career as one of the world’s best referees. Beverley Hadgraft talks to her about how such a sweet-natured girl who was once bullied to tears became an Olympic trailblazer.
Mostly, when rugby union players were told their referee was slender 18-year-old Amy Perrett, their response was a surprised, “Really?” Then they’d get on with the match. After all, refs gave up their weekends to run about on a muddy field and, at $25 a pop, it wasn’t about the money.
And then, one day, a team didn’t say, “Really?” Instead, they abused Amy. Their burly coach even came up to the teenager afterwards, yelling into her face about what a horrible job she’d done.
And right there, a trailblazing career may have ground to a traumatic halt.
“I was bawling my eyes out,”
Amy recalls. “I thought, ‘Why am I here? I don’t want to do this any more.’”
Fast-forward nine years and, today, Amy is ready to take on the world.
In July this year, she made international headlines as the first woman ever to assistant referee a men’s Super Rugby game. A month later, she was in Rio de Janeiro, refereeing at the inaugural Rugby Sevens women’s tournament at the Olympics.
Despite being just 27, many say Amy is the best female ref in the world. She snatched Australia’s Referee of the Year award away from the guys and, in February, she scored another first when she was given a full-time referee’s contract – overseeing both male and female games – with Australian Rugby Union.
“It wasn’t a token appointment,” insists National Referee Manager, Scott Young. “We’re lucky to have her.” Indeed. Amy’s not just a talented ref, she’s a fantastic ambassador for rugby – and sport – in general.
She’s articulate, blessed with both humour and humility, and professional right down to the studs on her boots.
You’d think the one perk of exchanging the teen party scene for rugby was to meet hunky blokes, but from the start she vowed never to date players or refs. “I had ambitions to go higher and there could be conflicts of interest,” she explains. “Especially if there were break-ups or anything.”
It’s not just her gender that sets
Amy apart. Rugby union tends to attract the private school elite. Yet she’s one of five kids from a workingclass family from Ryde in Sydney.
No wonder Scott observes, “She’s got no sense of entitlement. No airs and graces at all.”
Amy’s dad, Graham, worked in security, her mum, Jan, in the care sector. “Mum’s very fierce,” Amy says, chuckling. Among the things Jan is particularly fierce about is giving back to the community, which is how Amy started refereeing in the first place.
It was Jan who initially threw
Amy, then just seven years old, onto the rugby field when Paul her twin brother’s team were short a player.
The little girl loved it and it was obvious she was “extremely good”. When she was 12 and girls were no longer able to play, Jan encouraged Amy to referee. Rugby union had given the family membership discounts and Amy had also been a ball girl at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
“You have to give back to a sport that’s been so generous to you,” Jan says. “If you keep taking, you’ll become a very selfish person.”
It was also her mum who persuaded Amy not to quit after the barrage of abuse. “I’ve always said to my kids, ‘Have no regrets’,” Jan says. “I told Amy, ‘If you give up, be sure that’s what you really want. This is a bad experience, but let’s give it a year and see what happens.’”
What happened was a seriously demanding slog. Amy continued refereeing while studying for a nursing degree and doing care work. Jan and Graham subsidised her financially, former test referee Dick Byers became a mentor. Then, in 2009, it was announced that Rugby Sevens would be an Olympic sport and, suddenly, Amy had a definite ambition – to referee in Rio.
The only problem was that the world selectors weren’t looking towards Australia for officials, so
Jan supported her daughter to travel and referee Sevens tournaments in Dubai, Hong Kong and Amsterdam, so she would be noticed.
“She’s got no sense of entitlement. No airs and graces at all.”
And noticed she was, even being picked over a pool of international refs with more experience to referee the Women’s Rugby World Cup final in 2014.
Yet, at the end of that year, with her goal within her grasp, Amy feared it was about to disappear.
It should have been one of the happiest times of her life. She’d just married plumber Craig Vallely and was preparing for another year of overseas and interstate tournaments when she ran out onto the field one day and felt a blinding pain in her hip.
Month after frustrating month followed before doctors finally diagnosed a stress fracture in her sacrum at the base of her spine and ordered complete rest.
“I couldn’t even get on a bike or go for a swim for six weeks,” Amy remembers.
It took a year to get back to the fitness level needed to referee Sevens, which sees players sprint up and down the 100-metre pitch. Amy fretted that the international panel of selectors would have forgotten about her, but in December last year, she was told she had secured a ticket to Rio. “It was awesome. Olympics are special. I wanted to go so badly,” she says.
Many traits combine to make Amy a top referee. Accuracy is crucial, of course. One bad call in a 14-minute Sevens game could cause the loss of a medal. She’s a good communicator and understands the need to manage the game so that it’s still a good spectacle for the crowd – it can’t be over-refereed or under-done.
Fitness is also crucial, not only to keep up with play, but to help make the right decisions under extreme stress and fatigue. Amy has to meet the same fitness criteria as her male counterparts, which means four 90-minute sessions a week of highintensity intervals that would have most of us throwing up. On top of that, she works closely with her male colleagues on everything from managing captains to nutrition.
Another weapon in Amy’s refereeing armoury is what her friends refer to as her “rugby face”. The authoritative figure on the field looks nothing like the cheerful, chatty girl they know so well.
Of course, every referee faces scrutiny, but being a woman, Amy is under a microscope. The attention before her Super Rugby appearance, in particular, was overwhelming, she admits, but having a husband who “isn’t really into rugby” helps. It means she can go home, talk about something else, play golf or just hang out. Craig comes to watch her occasionally, but it upsets him to hear her get heckled.
So, how was it refereeing the Super Rugby?
“Incredible,” Amy says. Even the crowd knew they were witnessing history, yelling, “Go Amy!”, as she ran out at Melbourne’s AAMI Park. “I thought, ‘I do belong’,” she says and then, with typical modesty, adds, “but that’ll be my free run. For my next game, they might not be so nice.”
If Amy still harbours doubts about belonging, Australian Rugby Union doesn’t. “She’s gold,” says manager Scott, adding that admiration for Amy goes right up to CEO Bill Pulver at the top. “She’s just such a special person. She has good values, she can handle pressure and she really fits the culture we’re trying to create.”
Jan and Graham are due to travel to Rio to watch Amy, knowing that family support will be important to her. Has their daughter ever made them more proud? Jan considers the question. “You know, she worked for a long time as a care worker and she’s so full of life she’d go in to see those elderly people and she’d really lighten up their day. I think that’s what makes me proudest – she’s incredibly kind.”
Everyone, it seems, loves and is inspired by Amy. Indeed, she’s the kind of girl to make you vow never to boo a referee again.
“It was awesome. Olympics are special. I wanted to go so badly.”