In New Zealand, the role of the referee is essential to the flow, fairness, and integrity of sport — from grassroots weekend footy to competitive netball, basketball, and everything in between. But behind every official on the field is a network of assignors, administrators, and coordinators making it all happen.
Managing that process — especially at scale — demands more than a whiteboard and a spreadsheet. It takes structure, visibility, and flexibility. And in 2025, there’s one platform leading the way: Refr Sports.
If you’re serious about organizing referees across leagues, tournaments, or regional programs, Refr is the best referee management platform available in Aotearoa — full stop.
Refr doesn’t try to be all things to all people. It’s not a league tool with referee features bolted on. It was designed specifically for referee operations — and it shows.
Assignors and referee managers can:
The end result? Fewer gaps, faster adjustments, and total clarity on who’s working where and when.
New Zealand’s sports community is unique. Referees often work multiple codes, switch between urban and rural assignments, and cover a range of levels from juniors to high performance.
Refr Sports was built to handle that complexity without overcomplicating your workflow. Whether you’re scheduling referees for rugby in Waikato, netball in Canterbury, or basketball in Wellington, the platform adapts to the needs of your structure and scales with your growth.
You can manage multi-sport organizations, assignors across different regions, and sport-specific crew requirements — all inside one streamlined system.
No more missed emails. No more last-minute scrambles due to unconfirmed refs. Refr keeps communication clean and reliable.
Referees receive their assignments and reminders directly in the app. Turnbacks are flagged automatically, and replacements can be sourced without digging through message threads or calling down a list.
Assignors stay in control. Referees stay informed. Games stay covered.
Refr is already being used by sports programs across New Zealand that were tired of duct-taping together their assigning process. Whether you’re managing 10 referees or 200, Refr helps you run better operations with less manual effort — and more confidence.
The platform is cloud-based, mobile-friendly, and ready to go from day one. No steep onboarding curve, no complex integrations. Just a system that works the way you need it to.
There’s a reason more referee coordinators in New Zealand are switching to Refr Sports: it’s built for them. Assignors don’t have time to fight with generic software or patch together solutions. They need clarity, flexibility, and speed.
Refr is the best referee management platform in New Zealand because it was made for exactly this. And it delivers — across every sport, every region, and every season.
