The country's top-ranked netball umpire is giving rugby a go, something he has thought about doing for a ‘‘wee while'' now.
He got a taste of it as an assistant referee at the Otago Condor Sevens qualifying tournament in Dunedin in October, and will do the same at the Spartans 10s tournament at Miller Park next weekend.
Bredin (30) is contracted to umpire the ANZ Championship season between April and June, and said netball would take priority over his new interest.
He has been working closely with professional referee Ben O'Keefe and former Southland referee Keith Brown, who have provided him with valuable advice.
‘‘I'm just interested to see where it goes,'' Bredin said.
‘‘I'm under no illusions that I will either be really good or I won't be. But I've got to start somewhere and I had enough curiosity there and I got in touch with the guys and I was just keen to give it a go this year and see where it leads.
‘‘I guess I have had a level of interest there for a wee while. It got to the point where I just felt I have enough time in my life to have a new challenge.''
Bredin, who played one year of rugby as a pupil at Gore High School, will have to fit any rugby matches around his netball schedule.
However, with Dunedin's premier grade shifting from Saturday to Thursday nights this year, it will help.
Bredin, who only last week returned home from umpiring the three-match test series between England and Australia in England, has spent recent months studying rugby's laws.
‘‘It's just going to be a case of getting out on the field and putting it into practice,'' he said.
‘‘Like anything, you can only learn by getting out there and getting some experience. I'm excited to get out there and blow the whistle for the first time, whenever that might be.''
Otago Rugby Referees Association chairman Chris Hart said he hoped to test Bredin early in some under-16 games and said he would progress quickly if he was up to scratch.
‘‘He loves sport and I'm confident he will make a bloody good fist of it. He is an intelligent bloke with a good temperament who has been reading up on the rules. The only issue he will have is running lines. But that will come from doing games.''
All going well, last year's New Zealand ANZ Championship umpire of the year could find himself deciding between the two sports in the future.
‘‘At the moment, netball doesn't provide a career path for an official, in terms of a fulltime paid job. My intention is to keep going with netball and rugby and if it comes to a point where the level of commitment requires me to make a choice, I will look at all my options at that point.
‘‘I'm still an international umpire and I don't foresee that changing at this point. I'm still really passionate about umpiring.''
Bredin, a director at Dunedin accountants Keogh McCormack, is also the Dunedin Netball chairman.
He has umpired the last three ANZ Championship finals, and has also umpired at two Netball World Cups.
