Bathurst referee Liam Smith selected to be a part of Football NSW Referee Academy in 2022

The up and coming Bathurst referee was selected as one of 11 new faces that will be a part of Football NSW's Referees Academy for 2022, following an extensive trial process that saw over 100 nominations from across the state vie for a spot.

The Football NSW Referee Academy trains and prepares selected referees for success at state and national levels and to be potentially identified by Football Australia as future A-Leagues Women, Men and Youth referees and assistant referees.

Of the 11 new faces selected for the Referees Academy, Smith is the only one west of the Blue Mountains, with the rest either hailing from Sydney or the South Coast.

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Smith said he'd love to reach the big leagues and referee in the A-Leagues.

"The academy comes with intense training, going down basically every week for fitness and all that kind of stuff," he said.

"I'll also referee NPL down in Sydney, going up the grades from 16s, 18s and the possibility of an A-League career.

"I do want to get to the A-League. I'd be happy to get to youth league, but I'm basically focusing on A-League.

Smith originally started refereeing six years ago and like most young people that pick up the whistle, there was a financial incentive at the start.

But he quickly found out how much he enjoyed refereeing, so he started taking it a bit more seriously.

"I started refereeing in 2016. At first it was a bit of pocket money but I found I engaged a lot more in the game and it created a bit more opportunity than being a player," he said.

"So I thought I'd take it a bit more seriously. I tried out for the academy three years in a row and I didn't get there until the third year."

Smith is still hoping to referee in Bathurst District Football competitions this year, however, his opportunities may be limited due to his academy commitments.

Football NSW referee education coordinator Rob Nieuwenhuis said the academy was established in 2015 to help identify, develop and train junior referees.

"It was developed to identify and train our junior referees to go to national titles," he explained.

"It's an open application process, so any referee can come and do a trial.

"It's part of our pathway that they come to national titles, they get identified at a national level, which helps them on the way to an A-Leagues career."

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