Jill Potter (left) and fellow YOG qualifier officials.
The Youth Olympics Games (YOG) qualifier was like a glimpse into the future: Who are the next candidates for national team jerseys? How do the age-grade teams fit into their countries’ full plan? All of that rising talent was set against Jill Potter, whose legendary career and life is adding a new dimension.
The storied 15s Eagle, 7s Olympian and two-time cancer survivor has recently added “referee” to her rugby resume, and Potter cycled into the Rugby Americas North qualifier the past two days in Las Vegas.
“This is only my second time reffing and my first official refereeing experience,” Potter said of the YOG qualifier assignment. “Last weekend I made up my own tournament and had a bunch of Denver teams come together so I had some experience. And eight years ago when I was recovering from my neck injury I reffed a little bit, but this is my first real organized tournament, which is awesome.”
Potter reffed some Las Vegas Invitational games as well and laughed warmly as she recalled the stunned high schoolers who filed into a receiving line to shake her hand. At Silver Bowl, Potter served as head ref for the USA vs. Canada round robin game, which Canada won 14-5 before winning the title today 36-5 (read more).
It felt good to be out there. As a player, I wanted something that is – you have expectations, standard and performance evaluations and things like that. So that’s what kind of drew me to the game. The level of play is fantastic. Really happy with the game. The future is bright for the women.
Potter (background) during USA vs. Canada round robin game. / Photo: Jackie Finlan
“It was awesome,” Potter said of the North American rivalry. “It was fast, but not too fast. The players looked fit and strong. They were knowledgeable and very skillful across the board, both U.S. and Canada.”
As for the future?
“I would love to make the circuit,” Potter said of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series. “I think that would be an incredible achievement. But I have a long way to go. It’s fun to have a goal in mind that helps me transition from a player back into the game. And we’ll see. Really the sky’s the limit. If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t at least I’m having a great time refereeing.”