Juggling boots and whistle, Tippett thriving in rugby

Rugby season is a busy time for Danielle Tippett.

The South Canterbury school teacher plays club and representative rugby and is fast emerging as a rising refereeing talent as a recipient of the New Zealand Rugby Women’s Referee Scholarship Programme.

In only her third year of officiating, Danielle took the field to take charge of her first senior men’s fixture on Saturday, ticking off another milestone in her refereeing journey.

“When I was setting goals this year, I originally had it down that I hoped to be appointed to a senior men’s match, but I actually took it off because I thought it was a bit out of reach.

“On my list was to assistant referee FPC and senior men’s games, and referee 1st XV. I’ve achieved all of those already, and now a senior men’s game too.”

While Tippett has played rugby since childhood, she only picked up the whistle three years ago after encouragement from her then-colleague, Andy Colvill.

“I was working for South Canterbury at the time and was convinced to give it a go, so I shadowed Andy for a match to see how I went.”

Just a week later, Tippett was taking charge of her first secondary school girls’ match and has never looked back.

“That first game was great; the environment was awesome. I found positioning myself on the field difficult because it’s very different to playing, but because of my playing background I already had a good knowledge of the laws, so that wasn’t too tricky.”

The juggle is real, with club rugby training on Mondays and Wednesdays before playing on Friday evenings, referee meetings, officiating on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and fitting in personal strength and conditioning and referee preparation.

For now, she enjoys the balancing act and wants to continue both playing and refereeing.

“A lot of people ask me what my plans are with refereeing, but I feel like I’m just going with the flow. I’m saying yes to every opportunity that I get and, so far, it’s been awesome.

“It’s at the back of my mind in terms of where this could take me, but I’m not putting pressure on it. I want to enjoy it.”

Saturday’s step up to senior men’s rugby, taking charge of the Temuka v Waimate senior reserves fixture, was the latest milestone for Danielle.

“Each time I take the step up to a new grade, I get nervous, but I am lucky to have a lot of people around me — Andy and the whole team at South Canterbury, my coach Charles Hough, and also Maggie (Cogger-Orr), who is only a message away.”

She also had family, friends and fellow South Canterbury referees on the sideline supporting her on Saturday.

“I felt very calm throughout the game, so I was able to enjoy the experience. It was pretty similar to other games I’ve done — fast-paced, with some strong runners.”

Reflecting on her refereeing journey so far, Tippett said there has been a lot of learning in a short amount of time, but also an enormous amount of community support.

“People think it’s lonely and that you’re on your own but that has never been the case for me. I have people messaging me saying they’ll be there at games and they always are. It’s a cool community.”

Tippett has even taken a lead role in connecting women referees in South Canterbury, holding monthly meetings and helping to mentor younger girls entering the game.

New Zealand Rugby’s Women’s Referee Development Manager Maggie Cogger-Orr said the scholarship programme is a perfect fit for Tippett.

“It’s been awesome to have Danielle involved in our second cohort of Women’s Referee Scholarship. She is a great example of how the programme and a provincial union like South Canterbury can support current players to also get their start in refereeing. 

“Both Danielle and South Canterbury have really made the most of this opportunity and I look forward to seeing where it leads in the future, for both her and her region,” said Cogger-Orr.

Through the scholarship, Tippett receives financial support, one-on-one coaching, ongoing mentoring from Cogger-Orr and is integrated into development pathways and national performance networks.