Freshness is proving to be no boundary for referee Elliana Beeston.
The 14-year-old continues to make strides in her foray in officiating after only being involved a little more than a year.
Most recently, Beeston refereed her first NPL match between Riverside Olympic and South Hobart.
"I'd been looking for something to make a bit of money to start off with," the Launceston Christian School student said.
"The opportunity came up ... they [NTJSA] were doing a referee course and I thought 'yeah, I could do that'."
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT:
In the short amount of time, the Northern Rangers forward has grown to enjoy refereeing as much as playing the world game.
"I think it's pretty cool. I enjoy it and there's a lot of people who are very supportive of me," Beeston said.
"The people in charge have been very nice to me, they've given me very high up games to help me develop.
"Then I have developed myself and then I can move onto even higher games.
"Sometimes it can be a little daunting because you go out to an NPL match and they're all full-grown men."
In fact, Beeston said getting into refereeing had helped improve her performance on the pitch.
"If it makes any sense, I've learned to love it almost, it's the same as me playing soccer now," she said.
"Now that I know all the rules, when I play in games and something happens and the ref calls something I actually know what it's for.
"Like before I'd say 'hey, that's not a foul', whereas now I'm like 'oh yeah, good call'.
"It's helped me develop my skills in soccer because I know what I can and can't do. It wasn't the plan to go this far to start with but I think now that I have gotten this far I want to keep doing it."
As for dealing with unhappy hecklers, Beeston takes it in her stride.
"They can be a bit rough sometimes," she said.
"I think with the heckling it's definitely helped me with my resilience - being able to put up with that ... I don't need to take that personally, I push through it."
Do you know someone who is contributing to Northern Tasmanian sport, whether through participating or assisting?
The Examiner's Junior Sports Awards, sponsored by Woolworths, provide acknowledgement of accomplishments by players, coaches, volunteers, teams and clubs across the region.
Nominations are open from Wednesday, April 14, and will close at midnight on October 4.
Entries must include a photograph of the entrant.
Harry Murtough
Born and raised in Launceston. BA of journalism from Monash University. Sports reporter covering basketball, netball and cricket.
Born and raised in Launceston. BA of journalism from Monash University. Sports reporter covering basketball, netball and cricket.
