Refereeing “a beautiful thing” for Tim Lian
Tim Lian has a long list of rugby experience, from developing and coaching Brunei’s first under 19s team (bringing back some silverware from the U19 Asia Rugby Championship) to playing for Otago University, but his heart lands on refereeing the up and coming stars of Canterbury.
Tim Lian has a long list of rugby experience, from developing and coaching Brunei’s first under 19s team (bringing back some silverware from the U19 Asia Rugby Championship) to playing for Otago University, but his heart lands on refereeing the up and coming stars of Canterbury.
Landing in New Zealand 12 years ago, Lian’s first stop was reaching out to Canterbury Rugby Referee Association to get his boots back on the grass, “it’s a beautiful place to do it, it’s a beautiful thing to do – and it keeps me fit” Lian said.
Studying at Otago University in the late 90’s Lian dabbled with playing for the University team, and admits it wasn’t his forte “we didn’t do well…but I got involved!” he jested.
Lian enjoys sticking to refereeing the junior grades, which is certainly where his specialty lies, “I was a teacher for 12 years in Brunei, and I’m a certified coach for World Rugby level 2 for coaching U19s rugby” he said, “I quite like to get involved with the youth, it’s good fast rugby as well”.
Lian says it’s the community and friendships he has made along the way that keep him coming back every year, “when I joined the referee association, I made many friends” he said “its quite nice when you see a friend referee who knows you on the field”.
With such vast experience on the field, Lian speaks about resilience being a key feature in refereeing and the importance of always learning, “don’t give up, when you have a bad day. Learning, just keep learning. Hear from the parents and other referees and coaches, accept any mistakes and keep learning”.
Perhaps a budding referee himself, Lian’s son, Isaiah, tries to be on the sideline for his dad’s games as often as possible, “I like to see how players react when he penalises them!” (which cued a hilarious debate between father and son about the rate of which this happens).
Isaiah has been playing for Sydenham throughout rippa grades and is now scrum half for the year 6 side. Echoing one of his father’s sentiments about the joys of the game, Isaiah’s favourite thing about rugby is “Fitness… and I like to run around scoring tries”.
If you’re keen for arguably the best view of the game, click here to learn more about how you can join Lian as a Canterbury Rugby referee.
words by Hannah Yates