Jawahir ‘JJ’ Roble was born to referee. She loves football and loves a pre-match chat with the players, so “it’s not a surprise for them that kick-off is not the first time they see us”.
Growing up in Somalia, JJ didn’t even know referees existed. But she enjoyed running as a young girl and would play with the other kids in the streets, on the beach and outside the casbah, because the youngsters weren’t allowed inside to watch matches from big leagues around the world.
Nearly two decades ago, JJ’s parents moved her and her siblings to the UK, with JJ crediting her parents for being “mentally ready” to go through a lot as a family moving to a new country. They weren’t expecting to set their daughter on her way to becoming a footballer, however.
“When I was 13 or 14, I got a letter from QPR. Finally I had received my call up. But trials in those days for girls, even to this day, they’re so far away, and unless you have committed parents to drive you to these trials, there’s very little chance or no way for girls to get there,” she told LK.
“My parents said, ‘You’re out of your mind. You want me to drive all the way there? Very funny’. And the letter got ripped up or lost, I don’t know what happened to it. That was my footballing dream over. Who else would off er me a trial?
“I became demotivated but I still continued playing. For example, I knew school started at 8.45am, so I’d say to my friends to meet at 7.45am before school. Although my parents refused to even buy me trainers, I’d ask the girls with trainers who had finished playing if I could borrow them.”
JJ looked into coaching and, by chance, as she shadowed the coaches one day and took notes, she was asked if she could referee.
You must be fit all year around and fitter than the players as there’s no off season
“At the time, I still didn’t even know referees existed. Someone said to me, ‘Look, if someone kicks someone else, it’s a foul. You blow the whistle, you give the team whose player got kicked the free kick. It’s that simple!’ I agreed, and they were young girls so it wasn’t too intimidating or anything, but the parents were so tall and some had so much rage.”
The hijab is “a part of me”
JJ currently referees men’s Sunday League matches and some women’s games. Next season she’ll be trying to get to the Championship and then the FA Women’s Super League (FAWSL). She can deal with anything, but says the key will be her fitness.
“No referee gets a promotion without passing the fitness test, knowing the laws of the game (there are 17) and then there’s the theory exam. The fitness exam is 10 laps and you have to go through four stations and take on different scenarios. It’s like a bleep test. It’s a hard job. You have to be fi t all year round and fitter than the players as there’s no off season for the referees,” she explained.
As for referee abuse, she’s not flustered. “I wasn’t really worried about discrimination. I had played football with my headscarf all my life. The hijab is a part of me,” said JJ. “When I visualise myself as a referee I don’t think about being a black Muslim woman. It’s just me the referee.`
“The football community’s got your back, the game has your back, so stay in it for as long as you can because that’s where your true love is. You’ll always have direction: people, coaching, refereeing. I met most of my friends through football.”
