'Referee Recruitment' is now paramount to ensure all GAA games are played in Tipperary

A number of games were called off in Tipperary in 2024 as there was no referee for the game

Referees are in short supply and so Tipperary GAA is currently seeking applications from interested individuals to participate in the upcoming Referee Foundation course for Tipperary in 2025, to address the future refereeing needs within the Premier County.

With the growth in popularity of Gaelic Games, the demand for match officials is increasing. With over four thousand games being played in our county on an annual basis, the role of the referee is a particularly important cog of the wheel to ensure all games take place.

However, there is a growing drop in the current number of officials due to injury, work life balance and age-related factors. During the last GAA season in 2024, a number of games had to be cancelled due to no referee available.

"This was very unfair to the clubs affected in these fixtures" according to GAA officials who fear games may be called off again in 2025 because there are not enough referees.

Out of the 71 clubs in Tipperary, there are 13 clubs currently without referees. This represents 18% which GAA officials have said "is not acceptable".

"Our target is that every club has an active referee. We are at a crisis in Tipperary in relation to the number of qualified active referees," a representative of the County Board said.

Basic Club Referee Training Courses are provided every year by trained Referee Tutors in County Tipperary. Last year 18 new recruits were trained.

The first two Modules of the course are completed online by the student in the comfort of their own home, while the next two modules are completed as a group in Thurles.

This course usually starts in late February or early March. The course is developed in conjunction with Croke Park and supported through the Provincial Munster Referees Administrators.

The Training Course is now open to interested candidates to register. All clubs who do not currently have a referee in their club are encouraged to trawl their membership for prospective candidates.

As pointed out, there are 13 clubs without an active referee. Those interested in becoming a referee can contact any of the following personnel listed below or email [email protected]

REFEREE RECRUITMENT COMMITTEE Philip Kelly Chairperson (North Division) 087 286 3683, John Ryan Secretary (West Division) 086 241 7763, Derek O Mahoney (South Division) 083 017 7891, John McCormack (West Division) 087 790 5630, Seamus Delaney (Mid Division) 087 639 6698, Conor Doyle (North Division) 086 350 6775.

Or from any member of the Referees Administration; Philip Kelly (Chairperson), John Bob Ryan (Secretary) Franny Quinn (Divisional Administrator West), Keith Delahunty (Divisional Administrator South), Ciaran Timmons (Divisional Administrator North), Micheal Lowry (Divisional Administrator Mid)