Ever Think About Being a Soccer Referee?

Out of pure necessity, I became a licensed soccer referee. Youth soccer was just being introduced in the suburbs where I was living. We were founding a new league. We had plenty of players, plenty of teams, a barely sufficient number of fields, and hardly any referees.

The local small college had a soccer team and we were able to get some of the players to be referees. Most of the players we got weren't licensed, but they knew more about soccer than anyone in the local populace. They seemed to enjoy the work and the extra money came in handy.

However, we still needed more referees. The college players weren't always available. I decided to add myself to the referee pool. The neighboring city had an established men's league and youth league. The association was holding a training session for referees. A father of one of the players on my youth team decided to join me. He was a school principal and figured knowing about soccer would be a good thing. We both completed the course and started refereeing games.

I took a leave from the men's team I had joined in the city. I worked youth games after coaching on Saturdays and worked adult games in the men's league on Sundays to gain experience. Did I ever gain experience! I learned more about soccer in one season of refereeing than in all of the coaching clinics and playing clinics and actual playing combined (not just the rules). It was amazing to see some fairly skilled players execute up close during actual game play without having to be concerned about marking them or even assisting them. I was there as an observer just making sure the rules were being followed and keeping score.

Later, when I rejoined my men's team, they couldn't get over how much I had improved. I could actually make plays and help the team advance the ball instead of just running around trying to keep the other team from scoring. What's more, I actually knew the rules and had a much better understanding of the game. This knowledge and the skills I gained also made me a better youth coach. For me, becoming a soccer referee really paid off. I highly recommend it for any soccer enthusiast.