Jimmy Brooks began refereeing as a Grade 8 referee in New Hampshire at the age of 11 in 1992. In 2001 he attained the status of a New Hampshire State Referee. Now, as a current National Official in the Assistant Referee track, he discusses his career to date, including developmental experiences, mentorship, and many other topics (listed below).
Most of the points addressed during this episode touch on refereeing issues and challenges for adult amateur and professional level matches. However, they also apply quite well to youth level matches.
Other topics or references mentioned:
- Referee vs. Assistant Referee roles and responsibilities
- Referee Mentorship
- National Referee Fitness Test
- PDL: Premier Developmental League, a development league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league system. PDL is currently considered the top-level men's amateur soccer competition in the United States, although it has no official designation as such from US Soccer.
- Player gamesmanship
- Referee self-evaluation
- Player communication
- Professional Referees Organization (PRO)
- Referee Abuse
About PRO
The Professional Referee Organization (PRO) is the organization responsible for managing the referee and assistant referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada, working alongside the U.S. Soccer Federation, Major League Soccer, Canadian Soccer Association, the North American Soccer League, United Soccer League PRO, and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
The organization’s targets are to increase the quality of officiating in U.S. and Canadian professional leagues, develop more professional-quality officials at a younger age, and produce officials who will represent the United States and Canada in FIFA competitions.
New Hampshire State Referees Committee
https://sites.google.com/site/nhreferee
Randy Vogt has refereed over 9000 soccer games from professionals to six-year olds and he's written "Preventive Officiating".
http://www.preventiveofficiating.com/author.html
I discuss with Randy a number of topics, including his experiences, how he got started, the meaning of "preventive officiating", and much more. While having worked the full spectrum of games from youth recreational to professional, he focuses on college and youth soccer.
Jimmy Brooks began refereeing as a Grade 8 referee in New Hampshire at the age of 11 in 1992. In 2001 he attained the status of a New Hampshire State Referee. Now, as a current National Official in the Assistant Referee track, he discusses his career to date, including developmental experiences, mentorship, and many other topics (listed below).
Most of the points addressed during this episode touch on refereeing issues and challenges for adult amateur and professional level matches. However, they also apply quite well to youth level matches.
Other topics or references mentioned:
- Referee vs. Assistant Referee roles and responsibilities
- Referee Mentorship
- National Referee Fitness Test
- PDL: Premier Developmental League, a development league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league system. PDL is currently considered the top-level men's amateur soccer competition in the United States, although it has no official designation as such from US Soccer.
- Player gamesmanship
- Referee self-evaluation
- Player communication
- Professional Referees Organization (PRO)
- Referee Abuse
About PRO
The Professional Referee Organization (PRO) is the organization responsible for managing the referee and assistant referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada, working alongside the U.S. Soccer Federation, Major League Soccer, Canadian Soccer Association, the North American Soccer League, United Soccer League PRO, and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
The organization’s targets are to increase the quality of officiating in U.S. and Canadian professional leagues, develop more professional-quality officials at a younger age, and produce officials who will represent the United States and Canada in FIFA competitions.
New Hampshire State Referees Committee
https://sites.google.com/site/nhreferee
For nearly thirty years, Sharon and Jack Deplitch have served the needs of the greater soccer community, particularly referees. Having started with little more than pencils, paper, some game schedules and their home phone, Sharon now serves as the Assignor for 12 leagues, 4 major soccer clubs, as well as some regional tournament. She is among busiest of the 100 or so referee assignors in the Northern Virginia. In 2014 alone she assigned over 750 distinct referees to cover more than 10,000 games. The pool from which she selects referees has grown from less than 100 to her current database of 1300 referees. Sharon discusses her experiences and challenges as an Assignor.
Jack began his referee career in 1986 in the New Mexico., and refined his skills as a referee - or schiedsrichter in Germany before returning to the U.S. in 1990. He is an active referee with both US Soccer Federation and the Commonwealth Soccer Officials Association. He is also currently the Director of Instruction for the North Area of the Metro-DC Virginia State Referee Program.
This discussion also covers the initial processes and considerations in becoming a new referee. There are some very useful points mentioned for parents of youths who are new to refereeing.
References used in this discussion:
BAC: Burke (VA) Athletic Club
SYC: Springfield (VA) South County Youth Club
WAGS: Washington Area Girls Soccer
NCSL: National Capital Soccer League
ECNL: Elite Clubs National League
ADP: Advanced Development Program
CCL: Club Champions League
NPL: National Premier League
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