Background and Study Aim: Sports officiating requires a unique integration of cognitive, physical, and tactical competencies. Despite its importance, pedagogical models to systematically train novice referees, particularly in touch rugby, remain underdeveloped in higher education settings. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the REF-TOUCHTM programme, a four-week pedagogical intervention designed to enhance the officiating competence of university students with minimal prior refereeing experience. The objectives were to examine improvements and retention across five core domains: rule knowledge, signal identification, decision-making, agility, and small-sided game (SSG) performance. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental design was employed with 32 sports science undergraduates (M = 21.6 years). Participants underwent pre-, post-, and four-week follow-up assessments using five tools: a referee knowledge test, a signal recognition task, a video-based decision quiz, an agility drill (modified 5-10-5), and a GPAT-R rubric for SSG officiating. The intervention consisted of eight 90-minute sessions that combined theory, simulation, game-based practice, and peer feedback. Results: Statistical analyses revealed significant improvements across all variables from pre- to post-test (p 2 = .34–.48). Retention analyses showed partial decline in signal execution (Mdiff = -8.2%, p TM intervention significantly improved officiating competence in both cognitive and physical domains. However, a decline in performance on dynamic tasks at follow-up highlights the need for continued practice and live-match exposure to sustain learning. These results support a structured, simulation-led pedagogy as an effective model for developing referees. Further research should explore the benefits of longitudinal coaching support, integrate wearable technology for performance tracking, and adapt REF-TOUCHTM for use across different team sports and school curricula to broaden its pedagogical utility.
Nazarudin et al. (Wed,) studied this question.