Fiji’s youngest female referee gets exposure at the ANZ Marama Championship

15-year-old Arieta Hereniko is thankful to be given an opportunity to officiate in rugby at such a young age.

Hereniko is currently the youngest referee in the country and had her first big game at the ANZ Marama Championship.

“My father and brother are referees so that is where I got my interest from,” she said.

Hereniko watched her father officiate from a young age and this developed an interest to take the same route into rugby.
She said “I am thankful to be given this opportunity as it has always been my dream.”

“My father is my mentor, so he watches me as I ref a game and guides me when I make a mistake which helps me a lot,” she added.

The Rotuma native began her referee journey under the Tailevu Rugby Referees Association before advancing to a national championship.

“I chose rugby because it has always been an interest, my dad and brother are refs while my other brother plays rugby too,” she added.

Hereniko hopes to learn as much as she can and be able to one day officiate an international rugby match.

Hereniko will feature in a few other ANZ Marama Championship matches as the season progresses.

The Marama Champs continues this week with round 6 at Suva Grammar School ground.

At 9am, Nadi U19 will face Suva U19 at Ground 1 while Navosa U19 faces Rewa U19.

At 9.30am, Nadi Senior will face Suva Senior while Navosa Senior faces Rewa Senior.

At 11.15am, Nadroga U19 will face Namosi U19 and Yasawa U19 will battle Tailevu U19.

At 11.45am, Nadroga Senior faces Namosi Senior while Yasawa Senior will face Tailevu Senior.