Karratha resident Fiona Haigh sets sights on Olympics after being added to the FINA referee panel for 2022

Karratha’s top referee Fiona Haigh, who began her career in the country to give back to the community, has been added to an international panel of referees and has her sights firmly set on the Olympics. Haigh began her referee career in Geraldton in the mid-90s before having the opportunity to ref national league games and international tours. Haigh was announced as a member of the FINA Referee Panel earlier this month, the second time she has been added to the panel after serving in 2019. She joins seven other referees who will each have the opportunity to travel internationally to events, including the Water Polo World League, Senior World Championships and the Youth and Cadet World Championships in 2022. FINA is recognised by the International Olympic Committee for administering international competitions in water sports. Moving to Karratha in the middle of last year, Haigh was quickly embraced by the Karratha Water Polo Association. “I gained a promotion at work and took a position at the Karratha High School,” she said. “I knew there were water polo people up here and an association, so it was good to be able to jump straight into that and get back into a little bit of playing and lots of refereeing. “It’s been great seeing the local referees develop with some guidance and mentorship from me, and they have expressed they’re really appreciative of having someone with such a wealth of knowledge up here helping.” Haigh was no stranger to the community when she arrived, having visited both Karratha and Port Hedland to run courses on the latest rules changes each year before country week. “It’s always great to come to the country and give back to where I started, which is important to me as well and being able to help the regional areas. That’s a big part of my role upon a refereeing career,” she said. “There are some awesome players in Karratha and refereeing up here with the calibre of players means that I get to keep my skills sharp as well. “It’s no longer the poor country cousins when it comes to standards of games.” Haigh said her goal was to continue improving her skills as a referee and take part in either the Los Angeles or Brisbane Olympics. Karratha Water Polo Association president Nigel Kroonstuiver said having a top-level referee in the Pilbara who was still practising at an international level was going to fast-track learning, skills and rules directly into the regional competitions. “For the Karratha competition, we have seen a steep improvement in our games refereeing and the development of our referees since Fiona has arrived,” he said.