TWO Askam juniors are among those blazing a trail for the next generation as rugby league match officials.

Club-mates Zak Wright and Blossom Howell are two of the youngest members of the Barrow and District Referees' Society, and were both involved as touch judges in the recent youth cup finals day at Craven Park.

Wright, 13, has been combining playing with officiating the younger age groups at Fallowfield Park since passing the initial match officials exam in February and enjoyed his big-game experience.

“I just wanted to learn the rules of the game a bit more to help me play the game better,” said Wright, who as a player was involved in Askam Under-12s' play-offs final match-up with Hindpool Tigers. “I've found it's helped with that.

“I'm happy with refereeing as well. I did the under-12s and under-14s finals at Craven Park as a touch judge. It wasn't that bad, I just didn't look at the crowd.”

While Wright will be continuing with the playing side when he moves up an age group though, Howell's focus will be purely on her refereeing this year due to passing the maximum age for playing mixed rugby.

Although she may yet returning to playing when she is older, the 12-year-old has a great opportunity to progress in the world of officiating.

“She loves rugby, but she can't play after this season, so she's decided to go into refereeing,” said her mother, Sue. “She's started training with Barrow Island ladies as well, even though she can't play with them.

“It keeps her hand in until she gets a bit older and then she can choose to do what she wants with it.”

The Society are keen to bring through more young referees, both male and female to come on board, with the upcoming match officials course in Ulverston on November 19 having four aged under 16 signed up already.

Development officer Barry Hartle also hopes more young girls will be able to follow the example set by Australia's Belinda Sleeman, who became the first woman to officiate at a Rugby League World Cup after being chosen as a touch judge for this year's tournament.

“We want younger ones and we want more female referees to take it up as there is a long we they can go,” said Hartle.

“There are female touch judges at the World Cup in Australia, we've got a couple of females touch-judging in this country and one of those refereed at National Conference Level this year. If we catch them younger, we can develop them better.

“To have young referees taking on the younger age groups, it is absolutely brilliant – plus, if they know the rules, it really should help them if they do carry on playing.”

The Society will help develop referees of all ages through monthly development sessions, while those youngsters who show promise can be put forward for the Champion Schools final at Wembley Stadium on Challenge Cup final at day.

And chairman Terry Barker is optimistic the society can continue the growth of the past 12 months which has seen them able to cover 95 per cent of all youth games throughout 2017.

“We have recruited 10 referees in the past 12 months and we are looking for more young referees to develop for the future,” said Barker.

"Any good prospects, as long as they put the work in, can be recommended for the youth finals at Wembley.”

Anyone interested in taking up refereeing should contact Terry Barker on 01229 830698 or email terry.rugby@outlook.com for more information.