Two rugby league trailblazers have been formally recognised in the King\u2019s New Year\u2019s Honours List and, as expected, there is no Knighthood for Kevin Sinfield.<\/p>\n
Sinfield was overlooked once again due to the rules surrounding the honours system, meaning he was in reality never likely to be made a Sir despite raising millions for MND charities.<\/p>\n
But there are two very deserving honours, as Tara Jones and Julia Lee are both made MBEs.<\/p>\n
Lee is a huge trailblazer for women in rugby league, having been the first female referee to officiate games involves males at open age levels. She refereed over 500 games.<\/p>\n
Jones, who started her career as a player with St Helens, has also transitioned to officiating and has already taken charge of a League One match at professional level. She has since become a full-time match official and operated as a touch judge in Super League.<\/p>\n
And both have been honoured for their services to rugby league. RFL interim chair Nigel Wood said: \u201cOn behalf of the everyone in the Rugby League family, I wish to extend my congratulations to Julia and Tara for these thoroughly deserved awards.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulia Lee is a pioneer having become\u00a0the first woman in the UK\u00a0to referee male players at open age level.\u202fBy her retirement, she\u00a0had\u00a0officiated\u00a0500 games\u00a0\u2013 to date no woman in the UK has surpassed this achievement.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulia\u2019s presence as a female referee was an unusual sight in\u00a0Rugby\u00a0League when\u00a0she\u00a0started in the late-1980s, but the pathway is\u00a0now\u00a0well-trodden\u00a0and that is due to her dedication and service.\u00a0She has continued her efforts away from the field by shining a light on the history of Women in Rugby League, most recently through the\u00a0\u2018Life with the Lionesses\u2019 project.<\/p>\n
\u201cTara Jones had\u00a0a distinguished playing career where she became the first women\u2019s\u00a0Rugby\u00a0League player to score a try at Wembley Stadium in the\u00a02023\u00a0Challenge Cup\u00a0Final,\u00a0and\u00a0has\u00a0continued her trailblazing\u00a0efforts\u00a0as a full-time member of the Match Officials department.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe made history by refereeing her first Betfred League One match in 2024 and serving as a touch judge in several Betfred Super League fixtures.\u202f\u00a0In her new role, Tara also serves\u00a0as an ambassador for female officials, focusing on recruiting and developing a new cohort of women in officiating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julia Lee said:\u00a0\u201cRugby\u00a0League has always played\u00a0an important role\u00a0in my life, from my early days on the terraces at Craven Park watching Hull Kingston Rovers, where I found my tribe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel incredibly fortunate that, for\u00a0the majority of\u00a0my career, I have been able to volunteer and work within\u00a0Rugby\u00a0League and play a part in making a difference for so many people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realised early on that sport\u2014particularly Rugby League\u2014has the power to reach communities that are often neglected or disenfranchised. \u201d<\/p>\n
Tara Jones said:\u00a0\u201cReceiving an MBE is an absolute honour and a status I never imagined holding. I am truly humbled and accept it with immense pride, but this is not just for me personally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt represents the wider game gaining further recognition \u2013 particularly the growth and development of women\u2019s and girls\u2019 Rugby League over the years. That progress reflects the collective efforts of everyone involved, including all at the RFL, players, coaches, match officials, staff, and all advocates of women\u2019s sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a former international and Women\u2019s Super League player, current coach and now full-time match official I hope to continue paving the way in rugby league by showing that you can pursue your aspirations and that opportunities exist for everyone, regardless of role or background.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn particular, I hope this encourages females to not only take up officiating but to do so with belief that it is possible to officiate at the highest level in both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two rugby league trailblazers have been formally recognised in the King\u2019s New Year\u2019s Honours List and, as expected,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-379343","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}