Michael Littlefield will set off to England this July for the 2024 Touch World Cup where he will referee the world’s best touch football players.
Michael will stand as one of 200 referees from 20 nations at Nottingham’s week-long tournament with 39 nations set to compete in the World Cup.
Engineering Superintendent at Inkerman Mill, Michael has played touch football in the Burdekin since he was a kid and decided to become a referee in Year 12.
“I was playing with Burdekin Touch Football, and they needed more referees, so I thought I’d give it a try,” said Michael.
Michael progressed to Level 1 in the refereeing sector, and continued to play regularly, however it was under the guidance of Level 6 referee Tanya Findlay where he began his professional career.
“She said I could either be a good referee or an average player,” explained Michael.
Michael eventually gained the highest accreditation level under Touch Football Australia and became a Level 6 referee, where he has since taken his career to new heights. Michael has refereed at Touch Football State of Origin, Indigenous All Stars, National Touch Championships, and is currently a member of the National Referee Squad (NRS), a team of the top 20 referees in the country.
“I still enjoy playing touch football at home, but I love refereeing the game at a national or international level – the pace of the game is so fast, and you get a much better view on the field.”
Michael explained he finds some difficulty in refereeing games involving language barriers, however, finds the players are always respectful, and are understanding of basic terminology, overall making the game flow nicely.
“It’s always hard to referee teams whose players don’t speak English – you have to ref it the same as you would any game, and it’s on the players to work out what’s going on.”
With training underway in preparation for next month’s adventure aboard, Michael’s routine over the past six months was developed in observance of his usual referring statistics of running approximately 5km distance per game.
At the upcoming 2024 Touch World Cup, its expected that Australia will field majority of both players and referees, with Australia and New Zealand holding the top players and referees world-wide.
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