Female official honoured following 30-year commitment

Kim Archer has taken out the Dennis Braybrook Referees Association award for 2022 following a 30-year contribution to the game that nearly didn’t happen.

Archer recalled a conversation from her past that prevented her from being a football club member but prompted her to look at other areas to become involved in the game.

“I’d always been interested in Rugby League my greatest love, but I wanted to become a member of the Canterbury-Bankstown football club and at that stage, it was only for men,” she said.

“I was told they wouldn’t let women join until they could run onto Belmore SportsGround, that was the attitude back then, so I thought, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’

“Well, if I became a referee then I’d be able to get onto Belmore Sports Ground and they couldn’t deny me because that is what they told me.

“And just as I got my Referee certificate, they allowed women to join the club. That is how it started.”

An active member of the Canterbury-Bankstown Referees Association since 1992, Archer continues to contribute to the game, regularly attending grounds within the district to coach and develop junior referees.

She has spent her time over the past 28 seasons on the Appointments and Advisory Board and has held other positions on the committee including social secretary. In 2005 she became a life member of the Canterbury-Bankstown Referees Association.

“You can be involved in other ways; it is just not participating on or off the field but other areas of the club that helps others out as well,” Archer said

“A lot has changed. All the pathways that are now available for women and if they don’t want to continue playing then they can become referees.

“I think now they acknowledge that women can do it. It was just so male-orientated back then and to see their attitudes changing now is amazing.”