Mayende - the newest Currie Cup ref
Sindile Mayende of Durban will referee his first Premier Division Currie Cup match’s at Newlands this Friday evening when Western Province play the Leopards. Refereeing has been a wonderland for the young man from Alice who came to refereeing by accident.
Mayende wanted to be a player. Born in Alice on 2 January 1983, he started playing rugby as a boarder for Thubalethu High School in Fort Beaufort. Thubalethu means Our Chance and he took his chance, playing rugby well enough to be chosen as a centre for the Border Craven Week side at the Craven Week in Port Elizabeth in 2000.
He was spotted and given a contract to attend the South African Rugby Institute in Durban, now called the Sharks Academy. But he realised he was not big enough and took 2004 to bulk up. Burton Hufkie of the Institute required him to coach and referee while he was bulking up. He took to refereeing immediately and says: “I never went back to playing. I bulked up all right but with fat, not muscle.”
In 2004 Mayende joined the KwaZulu Natal referees’ Society which then had Roger Hey as its chairman and Philip Botha as its go-ahead secretary. Under them Mayende went ahead. That very year he went to Kimberley for the Grant Khomo Week for Under-16 provinces along with Pro Legoete and Jaco Peyper who have also become premier referees.
In 2005 Mayende went to the Grant Khomo Week again, this time in East London and this time spotted by André Watson. The next year Mayende was on a panel for the first time and went off to the Craven Week at St John’s College in Johannesburg.
Since then he says he has been surprised to make progress each year.
In 2007 he refereed his first Vodacom match, including the semifinal between Free State and Western Province. He also refereed the Under-19 Final.
In 2008 he spread his wings afar – to Kenya for the Safari Tusker Sevens and then to Singapore for the Sevens there. He also went to George as a back-up referee for the IRB’s Sevens. Because of an injury to a referee he got to referee two matches – Wales vs Georgia and Zimbabwe vs Scotland.
In 2009 he got closer to the top. He was one of the 12 on South Africa’s national panel. He had his first Super 14 experience – on the line as an assistant t referee to Craig Joubert with Mark Lawrence as the other assistant. He says: “I was so nervous I think my heart beat at 180.”
He also went off to Brisbane with Jonathan Kaplan on Super 14 duty.”It was another good experience. He took me around, showed me where to go and what to do, when to sleep and when not to sleep.”
On 19 July he got close to Currie Cup – appointed to a First Division match in Welkom – Griffons vs Eastern Province. And now there is the real thing – Western Province vs the Leopards in a Currie Cup Premier Division match at Newlands.
Newlands is his favourite venue and with good reason. In 2006 he refereed the Final of the Amateur Provincial tournament – Western Province vs Blue Bulls, and that was at Newlands. In 2007 he refereed his first Vodacom Cup match, Western Province vs Border, and that was at Newlands. Now he will referee his first Premiership match in the Currie Cup, and that will be at Newlands.
Of course he is excited. He has been talking to people, including Louis Mzomba who was the first Xhosa to referee a Test. On Thursday he will be in Cape Town and meet his coach, Tappe Henning.
Mayende is employed by the KwaZulu Natal Rugby Union as a development officer. He says: “Rugby is with me seven days a week. I can’t run away from rugby.”
Who would want to anyway?
