FOR many years the position of referee in the GAA was very much undervalued. The man in the middle was almost anonymous, taken for granted, unless something controversial happened and he became the centre of attention.
However, the modern GAA has brought much more awareness to the role played by the referees. It is now generally accepted that the referee is at the heart of the GAA because without referees, games just wouldn’t take place. There is now a much greater understanding and acceptance of the importance of the referee within the association.
