The Bald Ref - standing up for referees, and for mental health

The Bald Ref - standing up for referees, and for mental health

From Advantage Over podcast for rugby referees by RugbyReferee.net

October 24, 2025 · 43 min · Episode 44

About this episode

Jonny Cartwright discusses his journey as a referee and the importance of mental health support for match officials.

Today, we're joined by Jonny Cartwright, who you may know as The_Bald_Ref on Instagram. He's just been recognised as Loosehead Of the Year 2025 at the Looseheadz Community Awards. We talk about: Jonny's journey from coach to referee How he develops referees in his role as T&D lead in Manchester & District Referees (MADRefs) How Looseheadz is and how he got into supporting them (trigger warning) #WaffleWednesday His officiating at the World Record rugby matches in Ireland earlier in 2025 How he got into trouble for calling out clubs on Instagram when they fail to respect referees The effect that has on referee resilience and mental health of match officials Resources & Links: Jonny on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/the_bald_ref/ LooseHeadz: https://looseheadz.co.uk/ LH help and support: https://looseheadz.co.uk/help-and-support/ Previous episodes covering mental health and resilience subjects in rugby and refereeing - Nick Marshall and Tim Wyatt If you have any comments about this episode, or suggestions for future shows, then drop me a line at  ref@rugbyreferee.net ! You can follow us here: Instagram: RugbyRefereenet Facebook: Page: RugbyReferee.net…

People in this episode

Host: Keith

Guest: Jonny Cartwright

Topics covered

  • referee mental health
  • rugby officiating
  • support for referees
  • Looseheadz
  • referee resilience
  • coaching and development

Keywords

  • rugby referees
  • mental health
  • Looseheadz
  • referee development
  • Jonny Cartwright
  • resilience
  • officiating

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Looseheadz, Manchester & District Referees

Places: Ireland

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