Vancancies
Officiating at the HSBC World Sevens Series has always been a dream for Alvin Dass.
The 23 year old Fijian of Indian descendent is currently pursuing his degree at the University of the South Pacific doing a Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Law, but other than that he yearns to be an accredited rugby match officials at the world stage.
His passion to be a referee ignited from an early age, usually watching the Fijian 7s team with his family playing at the world sevens circuit, from there a passion was born as Dass was eager to set foot on the rugby field to officiate a game of rugby.
“I was brought up from a Rugby crazy family, I grew up watching rugby and whenever Fiji is playing on Television, we are always on our fit cheering our hearts out, that’s where the passion came from.”
“Usually when I’m watching rugby with my dad I’m always fascinated by the referees and from a young kid I always told myself that one day I would be controlling a game like that.”
His dream is slowing evolving into reality after the 23-year-old registered to the Nadroga Rugby Referees Association back in June, and is now involved with Nadroga Rugby club competition every weekend.
“I saw the ad on Fiji Rugby Facebook post calling on interests for Match officials, that’s where I took action, first I talked to my families and they were fully supportive of my decision”
Dass knew it was the perfect time to take action when he saw the call for interest on Fiji Rugby socials, he did not let the opportunity slip away as he took action straight away.
“I contacted Nadroga Rugby Union where they took my interest and invited me to the first game to come and observe, so I went.”
“I learned the rugby rule book the first few weeks and did my match officials online exam on world rugby website, and I’m at level 2 now, I’ve continued to build on my theory and application which is something that improves my referee knowledge.”
Dass started as an assistant official when he joined Nadroga rugby, and after a few weeks he went on to officiate the under 15’s games. From then he continues to climb up the ladder, and now he officiates a few Nadroga senior club games every weekend.
What excites the 23-year-old when on the field is being able to control a high-intensity sport with humongous players ravaging each other.
“I always love and respect the attitude shown by players towards match officials, and for us match officials to be able to control the game with so much pressure from fans and players, it’s just something that fascinates me.”
Dass added that studying and committing to his passion is quite a challenge for him, “having to give time towards my studies and also to all my effort towards my passion, I have to balance it so I can thrive in both platforms.”
“I know my story will have an impact on somebody’s life and encourage them to chase their dream.”
Dass emphasised that he is proud of what he’s achieved so far and he won’t stop until he reaches his target in being a world-renowned referee.