Love them or hate them, rugby referees play an integral part when it comes to ensuring New Zealand's national sport continues to thrive.

But an early season shortage of registered referees has the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union crying out for help.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union is about 40 referees short of the desired 120 mark.

Sitting well below the required 120 registered referees, with the roster currently at 80, a number of referees are forced to don the distinctive blue and gold strip with whistle in hand on numerous occasions each week.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union operations manager Neil Alton says the depleted referee stocks are well short of the target number needed to cover all levels of rugby down to Under-12 competitions.

Neil says: 'We have a little bit of a shortage and we are trying to get more people, and young people, to replace the refs as they get older or decide to have a rest.

'There is always plenty of games to do and the fact that the game is growing there is more opportunity to referee mid-week. It's a 12 months of the year job.”

Anyone can join a referees association, with associate referee courses taking about three hours to complete.

While held at a basic level, the courses qualify referees to control fixtures up to Under-21 level, though a whistleblower's progress is often dictated by the time, knowledge, skills and fitness they bring to the role.

Neil admits the shortage is being experienced right across the Bay of Plenty, with particular lean spots in the Eastern and Central Bay, and he is keen to talk to anyone who wants to give something back to the game.

With such a busy calendar all year round, the current crop of referees are being put under considerable pressure, and are often forced to officiate two or three extra games over the course of a weekend.

'We are running a bigger sevens programme,” he explains, 'so people do need a break away from the game so they maintain that enjoyment and it's not such a drag on their family and personal time.

'It's the best seat in the house - that's what the refs say.”

He says national referee Brett Johnston is a perfect example of what can be achieved in the ranks of refereeing, having picked up the whistle just four years ago.

A versatile flanker, Johnson was forced to pull the pin on his playing career after a sustaining a badly dislocated elbow three minutes into his Bay of Plenty Steamers career.

Since then he has risen steadily through the refereeing ranks and is part of the NZRU 2015 Refereeing Squads alongside fellow Bay refs Glen Jackson, Nick Briant, and Shane McDermott.

For more information on getting involved in refereeing at any level call: 0800 733 3733.