O’Keeffe said he would recommend refereeing to anyone, especially in Dunedin, which had a strong and supportive refereeing community, with a friendly and strong club competition.
Refereeing numbers are low in Dunedin and a campaign started last week to build them up. O’Keeffe is a real example of how far you can go in the game.
O’Keeffe (32) went to Marlborough Boys College, where he was head boy, and came down to Dunedin in 2007 to study medicine.
He was an outside back and intended to play for University. But it did not work out that well and he had that year off.
The next year he talked to his father, who advised him to think about refereeing.
"So I went along to the North Ground and refereed a colts game. I cannot remember a lot about it. I remember I had to borrow one of the coach’s watches as I didn’t have one," he said.
"I just kept going and building on my experiences. The thing is, I have always loved rugby. Enjoy the fitness, those nerves, the build-up for the weekend.
"I remember running touch for an Otago game just after I had done my first club rugby final [in 2011]. I was on the touch and just thinking then ‘this is pretty cool, this is what I want.’
"Things were going well and I ended up staying in Dunedin at the end of 2011 when I could have gone to Wellington with my studies."
O’Keeffe said he enjoyed being in Dunedin, as the referee community was so supportive and club rugby was strong and tested him as a referee.
"I kept getting more experience and started getting picked for different squads and getting Heartland games and it just continued."
He has been a professional referee for seven years and was enjoying it immensely.
He loved the game and the challenges that it presented every weekend. The game changed every year and that made it hard, but that was part of the excitement. He enjoyed the way the game forced you to get better, he said.
O’Keeffe now lived in Auckland and had branched into ophthalmology with his medical studies, although rugby and refereeing was still his top priority.
When he was starting refereeing he never thought about doing it as a job, but it had just moved into that.
He officiated at the 2019 World Cup and was in charge of the pool match between Scotland and Japan, which was in effect a knock-out match.
"That was a massive game. All of Japan watching and a great atmosphere."
He went on to run the touch as an assistant referee in the final.
Being a professional referee enabled him to travel the world before Covid-19 and he was away from home for 200 days a year.
"I have been to some pretty amazing places and had some wonderful opportunities."
