whilst i do agree with Phil generally, I do have to say that at youth levels, in England (I cant comment for other nations) levels mostly refs are coaches, and as coach, and one time RFU developer etc , IMO there are a lot of very poor coaches out there who I suspect make even poorer refs. These people ref because they often see it as their right to do so. Yes, they are a volunteer, yes the game cannot go on with out them. But their total lack of interest in reffing for reffing's sake makes for some very poor experiences, and/or demonstrating a total lack of empathy for the game, its values, what players are genuinely trying to achieve, and yes, at times, a thorough ignorance of the laws and age group regulations (the latter is a double worry because if they don't understand those regs, what on earth are they coaching)