In early 2010 a football administrator told budding elite referee Jarred Gillett there were ‘no guarantees’ he would get to officiate at an Australian A-League game. Twelve months on, after an intensive year of work supported by an Australian Sports Commission (ASC) National Officiating Scholarship, Gillett refereed 15 A-League games, the semifinal between Wellington and Adelaide and narrowly missed out on being appointed to the grand final.

Gillett described the semifinal as the best of his career in terms of the quality of the game and the refereeing, despite heavy rain that made conditions slick for players and officials alike.

‘It was a satisfying feeling knowing that all the hard work and preparation that had gone on up to that point had paid off and it was a proud moment knowing that I was more than capable of handling football at that level,’ Gillett said.

The 24-year-old was one of 22 officials from 11 sports to receive a National Officiating Scholarship last year, which gave him access to professional development and support, including mentoring and sports science expertise. He attributes much of his success in higher refereeing duties to the ASC scholarship.

‘I’d be lying if I said I only got to the A-League because of the scholarship, because there’s a lot of hard work that’s gone before,’ Gillett said. ‘But it’s the extra five or ten per cent for my performance that the scholarship’s added to my game from my preparation, during a match and after the game.

Gillett said coming into his scholarship year was an eye-opener.

‘I discovered there were a whole lot of extra things that are involved in being a high performance referee that I hadn’t paid much attention to in the past like nutrition, recovery techniques and strategies, media, psychology and even simple things like ensuring my vision was up to scratch and not just if I could see the bottom line of the chart, but making sure I was looking where I was supposed to be looking in terms of refereeing a football match.’

Gillett balances his training and refereeing commitments with studying for a PhD in biomechanics at Griffith University on the muscular properties of young and old people and balance recovery associated with falls.

He is one of the many success stories of the ASC scholarship process – now in its sixth year – and is one of the first to earn a new second year of scholarship support to help fast-track his rise to the top.

‘Getting this second year of access to all of the scholarship resources is fantastic,’ he said. ‘Hopefully I can consolidate what I’ve done this coming season and my goal is to get a spot on the A panel in the A-League and my next goal after that is to be ready for a FIFA nomination.’