Nationally-ranked referee Sheldon Eden-Whaitiri has been appointed the new rugby education officer for the Otago union.
Eden-Whaitiri, who comes from Auckland and is ranked one of the top 10 referees in New Zealand, will start his job next Thursday, and said he was very much looking forward to the role.
''Rugby is a real passion of mine and to get the opportunity to be involved in it and work in it fulltime is great.''
The role involves educating and recruiting referees throughout the Otago province.
Eden-Whaitiri (28) has officiated in ITM Cup matches and been the assistant referee in Super 15 games. He ran the line for the match between the Highlanders and the Reds at Forsyth Barr Stadium earlier this year.
He started refereeing aged 15 at King's College in Auckland after deciding he was never going to be an All Black.
''My ambitions as a player never matched my ability. So I picked up a whistle. I kept playing when I was at school and then when I left school I gave up playing and concentrated on refereeing,'' he said.
He has steadily worked his way up through the system, though it has not always been plain sailing. He was at the centre of abuse from the Stormers at a match in Palmerston North last month that led to the South African side being fined.
Eden-Whaitiri had not spent a lot of time in Dunedin but was keen to get to the city, and get round the clubs in the province and work with referees.
He has a bachelor's degrees in commerce and laws from the University of Auckland and had been working at Mainfreight as an account manager. He would continue to referee matches at first-class level, he said.
His position had been vacant for more than a year, and Otago general manager Richard Kinley said it was a position he had been looking to fill for a long time. Todd Pullar had been in the position before he resigned and was not replaced as the union had financial struggles.
Kinley said referees were a vital but sometimes overlooked part of the game.
''At the end of the day you do not have a game if you don't have a referee. We need to give them as much support as possible,'' he said.
The union was struggling on some Saturdays to get enough referees and Kinley hoped Eden-Whaitiri's appointment would boost numbers.
The position is funded by the New Zealand Rugby Union (75%) while the rest will be paid by the Otago union and the Otago Rugby Referees Association.
