Julia Lee is an English former rugby league referee and was the first woman to officiate men's rugby league games in the United Kingdom.
 Lee at a RLWC2021 impact event | |||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | 1968 (age 55–56)[1] Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||||
Refereeing information | |||||||||||||||
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Lee was born in Hull, England in 1968 and grew up supporting Hull Kingston Rovers.[1] She took up refereeing aged 17 after seeing an advert for referees in a match programme. After a friend bet her £5 that she wouldn't apply she did so but faced considerable resistance in being accepted due to her being a woman.[2] Lee started by officiating at junior games but after moving to London she started officiating open-age games. After returning from a period in Australia, where she became the first woman to referee a game,[2] she moved up the refereeing ranks and by 1990 was officiating games in the National Conference League Premier Division - the highest league in the amateur game - as well as games involving the reserve sides of professional clubs.[1] Lee refereed her first professional game at Keighley Cougars during the 1993–94 season.[1]
Injury forced her to retire in 2000 after she had refereed over 500 matches including the Oxford v Cambridge Varsity match and internationals in Australia and New Zealand.[3]
Post-retirement Lee worked for the Rugby Football League as a director of community projects and events.[4] Lee established her own life-coaching company, Common Sense Initiative, in 2017.[3]
In 2018 Ref! a play written by Sarah Jane Dickenson and inspired by Lee's career premiered at Hull Kingston Rovers KCOM Stadium.[3]
References edit
- ^ a b c d Byrnes, Liz (4 July 2018). "Lee's story inspires play within the play". Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Female rugby league referee Julia Lee inspires play". BBC News. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ a b c Scott, Catherine (5 July 2018). "The life of UK's first female rugby league ref from Hull has been turned into a play". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ Robinson, Hannah (27 June 2018). "The incredible story of Hull's female rugby league referee inspires play coming to Craven Park". Hull Live. Retrieved 25 September 2018.