Mr. Dudley Phillips:

The player avenue is an untapped well of resources. These are people who know the game, who have a feel for it and who could get up to speed quickly. We touched earlier on club interactions and how more of a referee presence within their clubs could help give a player who is coming towards the end of their career a better insight into the refereeing world and how it might be of interest to them. That could even be through training with somebody or chatting with somebody and getting to know a bit more about the positive experiences of involvement.

Someone else referenced a referee liaison officer. This is another good idea that I believe in. We could have dedicated people within a club who make it their business to liaise with teams and coaches and as players are coming towards the end of their playing days, they might start that conversation a bit earlier. We could even go down the road of education to a point of giving them exposure to youth games through an affiliation programme, etc., or mini-games. This about getting interest, giving exposure and, hopefully, encouraging the transition over from playing.