Stefan Newbury (GBR) has been refereeing at the 2024 European Championships Juniors in Tallinn. He is among the younger referees at the international level at only 37 but having come through a junior refereeing programme in the UK, Stefan already has almost 25 years of experience.
“I started in 2000 as a junior referee and came through a junior system that we have in Great Britain, eventually getting on to the GB referee development programme in 2014, aimed at helping referees take steps towards the international level. In 2016 I took and passed my continental exam in Lignano at the junior cup.
The Covid period was difficult for everyone but for me particularly because I like to keep practising and learning. There were lots of online resources to help us to continue to feel part of the wider judo family but nothing is the same as the practical experience. I’d already been selected by GBR as their candidate for the IJF exam for 2020 and so had to push it back to 2021, waiting for all the travel restrictions to be lifted. I guess it was the same as for the fighters who had to halt their usual training."
"You can track a referee’s career and development like an athletes but with stretched timescales. Employing patience is key. You have to learn to be patient, getting used to having to wait. We do it in fights too on a much smaller but more intense scale. We wait for fighters to produce their best when we can feel it’s coming, we wait at the side of the mat between contests. We wait all day and work full events with very little down time and so patience and endurance are important.
If I’m asked about my worst days, I’ve never really had a ‘worst’ day because I’ve always said that when I don’t enjoy it I will stop. Im still here! I’m not a person who becomes overwhelmed by negativity. I can usually see it as a moment to assess and refine my own errors. I have those moments at every event but that’s where I find the opportunity to learn and get better. There’s always a way to get better even on the brilliant days. Sometimes it’s not a matter of mistakes, just finesse and experience. There is always something to work on, again, just as there is for the judoka."
"I refereed at the 2018 junior Europeans too. I rushed back from my honeymoon to do it and loved every minute. It was rare to have a continental licence invited but I was happy to have the opportunity. I learned there not to take anything for granted. It was a big honour and I knew that an invitation wouldn’t always happen. Also, it was an outstanding experience to work with some of the world’s best referees so early in my career. Discussing judo with them and also socialising with them and learning to be part of that group was a major part of my education.
If I had a message to send to all judoka, it would be to strive for ippon. Don’t worry too much about the shido and the tactics. Winning or losing can feel important but applying those fundamentals and absorbing them so that it becomes second nature is like future-proofing your judo. Tactics can be added later.”
What would you like to do, to achieve, to experience next?
“Every referee says they want to be on the World Judo Tour. It’s the next step up, the next level of competition and the athletes are also taking these steps, on to the next stage of learning.
Jigoro Kano was right, that’s the bottom line! It’s a continuous process of education, not only becoming better at a certain job but refining our personal values as we contribute something to the judo world and even the wider world.
Once I’m there on the Tour, I will want the senior worlds and then I will want the Games. It’s natural, always wanting and searching for more but taking nothing for granted. I will continue to work to earn each step.”
