A Level One Match Officials course, held at the Sparta Sports Complex in Capelle aan den Ijssel, just outside Rotterdam, has again underlined the growing transfer of knowledge and leadership among the European rugby league nations.

Referee candidates from three newly formed rugby league clubs in the Netherlands - Rotterdam Pitbulls, Den Haag Knights and Amsterdam Cobras - were present, as was Peter Parker from the RFL who shared his experience on a course led by Tom van Gorkum and Jorge Vazquez of the Nederlandse Rugby League Bond.

They received their Level One Educator qualification in Brussels in February as part of the  EU-backed Leadership Devolution Project and were assessed by colleagues, Jason Bruygoms and Misaele Vakadranu, who achieved their qualifications through the 2012-13 Governance Foundation Project.

“It was good to see so many people from all of the teams taking part in the course,” said Van Gorkum. “I'm looking forward to seeing them in action in the competition which starts in two weeks. This is definitely a sign of rugby league establishing itself and growing in the Netherlands".

Bonne Wilce from Den Haag Knights RLFC noted, “I thought taking part in the match official course would be a good opportunity to get a better grip of rugby league. Over the course of the day we covered all the basics and even the more complex and rarely seen situations to ensure we are prepared for any eventuality.

“After a morning of theory we moved outside to put what we had just learned into practice. This is when it became apparent knowing the rules is only half the job, executing the role of the referee on the field took some time to get the hang off. The hardest part was looking at the game from the referee’s perspective instead of the player’s.”