Pupils enjoy 'inspiring' talk from rugby league official James Child

Our Shrewsbury Dialogues series continued last week with a fascinating talk from James Child, one of rugby league’s most experienced officials.  

James talked through his refereeing career, starting as a boy to his progression through the ranks to the elite level where he remained for over a decade. He retired at the end of last season, after officiating in over 300 Super League matches, and set piece occasions such as the Grand Final and Challenge Cup Final. He also described his experience of officiating at four consecutive World Cups.   

James described what it took to reach the elite level - both in terms of the physical and mental side of things.  He was wonderfully honest, talking about how to deal with mistakes, both in real time and as an aid to further professional development.  He also spoke about the sacrifices required to meet high level goals but made it clear that this was a personal choice, and ultimately a person should enjoy what they are doing.  

In the final segment of his talk James shared his experience of coming out as openly gay in a typically ‘macho’ environment of professional sport.  A packed audience of students was greatly enthused and uplifted by the event, and many commented that they found James’ account of opening up about his sexuality on the BBC’s LGBT Sport Podcast to be inspiring.  

The series continues after Exeat with various speakers including Owen Sheers (poet and playwright) and Helen Sharman (astronaut) on women in STEM.