Blue Mountain College pupil Gethyn Evans, 13, was presented with the most improved referee award at the Eastern Northern Rugby Referees’ Association end of season dinner.
Gethyn said he was "shocked" to receive the trophy but it was "pretty good".
He started refereeing this year after injuring his knee.
He decided not to play himself but took up the whistle instead.
"[The knee] is not a 100% right."
He has been refereeing the Eastern Southland under-11 B grade competition.
He liked refereeing because it helped him understand the rules better and learn more about the different hand signals a referee used.
It was likely he would keep refereeing rather than play.
Two aspects of refereeing he found challenging were working out when players were offside and sometimes it was hard to know if a player had stepped outside the sideline on a way to scoring a goal in the corner, he said.
Gethyn’s father Jason has been refereeing for 17 years and has been supporting Gethyn’s efforts from the sideline.
He was proud of the way Gethyn had picked up the craft, Mr Evans said.
"It was Gethyn’s idea so I held him to it. He did really well."
In the under-11 grade, referees also gave players tips when they blew the whistle, he said.
"You’re actually coaching and reffing at the same time."
The Mataura and Pioneer under-11 coaches had been very supportive of Gethyn refereeing, Mr Evans said.
His son had also received encouragement from other referees including Simon Smith, Logan McLellan and Bevin Roy .
There was a shortage of referees, and he would encourage anyone interested to have a go, he said.
