Hannah Lear is one of the UAE’s rising stars in refereeing, in particular Touch rugby, as part of the Aetna weekly Super6s Touch league.
Since picking up the whistle four years ago after knee surgery, the 17-year-old has a busy schedule on her hands, balancing her studies at Dubai English Speaking School with playing and refereeing rugby.
The injury is behind her now, nearly four years since she side-stepped her friend and the knee just collapsed beneath, forcing her to undergo ACL surgery.
After months of rehab, she strengthened her knee back to full effect and used her time wisely in between, putting her interest into different areas like refereeing.
“I always wanted to be a referee because I would always admire ref’s that were on duty when I was playing. When I was injured, it was the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about it,” said the Year 13 student.
“I love the community we (at the Super6s) have. We’re all just a big group of friends, even with the vast range of ages. You learn the game better and develop a better understanding of it too. It gives you really good life skills such as leadership and so forth.”
The Aetna Super 6’s, which plays on Tuesday nights at the Sevens, has a pool of around 50 referees who give up their time to allow the players the opportunity to play.
Lear is one of the referees to dedicate much of her free time and expertise for the greater good of Touch rugby in Dubai.
It’s her dedication, like many others, that show the UAE can develop their own refereeing talent and ensure the game of Touch can grow. Infrastructure, such as quality referees, are vital to develop sports anywhere, and in a transient city like Dubai, it is extremely important to have a pipeline of upcoming referees.
“I play with two teams in the Super 6s. There are three different time slots so I play during two of them and I ref the other one,” she said.
“There are roughly 50 referees but not everyone can make it on Tuesday. A lot of the refs are the younger kids who are learning the game, which is great to see. They have the opportunity to shadow the more experienced refs which is so good to help with confidence and knowledge.
“Super 6s offer a really good course. They go all the way through the basics of Touch and reffing and the Level 1 requirements from Touch Europe but it’s not the actual qualification. They teach you so well. You learn it and when they have the ability to bring out the examiners, you can do the Level 1 course then.”
One of only four Touch Europe accredited Level 2 referees in the Emirates, Lear completed her Level 2 course earlier this year with impressive results.
She passed the theory with a stunning score of 98 per cent and her on-field assessments were very consistent throughout the day.
“We had to do eight hours of theory and then we had to do a theory test that day. Only if you got 70 per cent and above, then you were assessed during the tournament the following day,” she said.
“I feel there is more of a social aspect to the Touch games and tournaments here in the UAE compared to the UK. Most of us have passed the Level 1 Touch Europe course and it’s a really high standard.”
She continues to push the boundaries and show her class on the field. Playing Touch as well as contact rugby is still of priority and she still loves it. Yet, she is doing fantastic things on the refereeing front, regularly taking command of senior men’s games.
“I get put on a lot of high-intensity men’s games. The biggest challenge is this is my call. This is what I saw so this is what we are going to play. Some of the men don’t agree but they get over it quickly,” she said.
She hopes to pursue a business degree in either the UK or the Netherlands after her final exams at DESC next year.
And on the refereeing side, all the knowledge and experience gathered in Dubai will stand her in good stead when she continues her sporting and refereeing journey through university.
“I want to balance it. The refereeing is such a good qualification to have. When I go off to university, I can go off and referee Touch games or tournaments at weekends. It’s a good skill to have. I really enjoy playing too. Playing is higher on the priorities but I am still trying to balance it out,” she said.
“There are three more grade boundaries you can work up to. I am working towards my level three right now but I will only get that away from UAE. You have a theory test and set amounts of hours being assessed by an examiner.”
If you are interested to learn more about the reffing pathway with the Touch Supers 6s, please visit https://www.super6s-dubai.com/ for more details.
