OUR HISTORY

The New England Rugby Referees Society was founded in 1967 as the Boston Rugby Referees Society. The founding members were Joe Walsh, Don Morrison, and Bill Rogers, the only referees in the area. They met at the Faculty Club of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As the Society expanded to about ten members, covering a larger geographic area, it was renamed the New England Rugby Referees Society in 1971.

The Society was incorporated in 1982 as a Massachusetts corporation under its present name. It is a charitable and educational organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Society presently has over 100 members, of which eighty officiated at least one match in 2021. 

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The society consistently develops referees for Major League Rugby, NIRA, NCR, WPL, NERFU, Club, and High School  Rugby in the New England region.