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Brendan Lucas
English 12
8th period

The FIFA Referee Program

In the world of soccer there is one team in the world that controls the game more than any
other in the world. With a wave of the hand they are able to stop the game and move in the
direction they believe most important to them and the sport. Without this group of amazing
athletes, fans, and students of the game, competitive soccer would be dead throughout the world.
This team without a doubt is the referees; they are the most influential part of the game other
than the judicial councils that create the Laws of the Game.
The position of the football referee was around in the United States since the earliest
known league in 1862_. These are known as the first football leagues outside of Britains
controlled boundaries. There was a huge, but hard fought struggle for the sport of soccer in the
United States. An off handedly interesting piece of knowledge is that the slang word soccer
was derived from the Association Football Clubs abbreviation of the leagues Association from
Boston, Massachusetts_. This club later went on to invent the Boston Game, which was the
first evolutionary step in creating the much more popular American Football. Because of this
leagues great involvement with inventive games they soon lost interest in soccer and began
solely investing in the rules and game of American football. The United Football Association
(UFA) or now known as the United States Soccer Association (USSA), was the next league to
finally initiate a resurgence in soccer enthusiasm through the 1913 exhibition league that soon
spread soccer enough to create a small following. This group of soccer followers was hesitant

raise its numbers until the late 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. This was the first year that a
world cup was ever televised_. Without this moment in history, US soccer would not exist in our
nation. From this point on, soccer has become a rapidly developing sport for all people in the
nation -and beyond- to enjoy.
The position of referee would not be able to sustain itself without the credibility and
representation that it has received from the introduction of youth leagues in the US. The sport
mentored thousands of young men and women to take a career in refereeing. The referees job on
the field is to control all players and people within the vicinity of the field and to uphold the
Laws of the Game_. Personally, I am extremely interested in the prospect of being a professional
FIFA referee because I already have had a lot of experience in the field and have received great
reviews from high level veteran referees. It is very tangible and accessible dream of mine to
participate at a high level of competition in soccer. I would love to be able to participate in
soccer programs all around the world if Im at all capable.
It can be quite rare for American referees to ever participate in World Cup competition,
only twenty-nine of the thousands of referees to ever to be a part of the World Cup positions.
Recently Mark Geiger was the first US referee to ever ref a quarterfinal match in the World
Cup_. Much of what is needed to be learned about the Laws of the Game is learned by youth in
their own athletic opportunities. Although to be certified to ref at the youth level it is necessary
to take a course and test to receive a grade 8 certification. Grade 8 is the lowest level that a
referee could ref at, this level also only allows the judging of youth-level soccer. As your grade
moves up, it is possible to ref higher levels all the way up to grade 1, which is only classified as
international professional matches. It is also likely that a ref sticks to a certain position on the
field, including the Center who controls every final decision and is the leader of the group; the

other position is the Assistant Referees who are responsible for the judgment of out of bounds
calls and some fouls; and in some higher level competitions there is the Fourth Official who is
recognized to keep track of official stats, time, and replace the position of any referees that for
any reason are unable to complete the match. The only way to proceed up the ranks of a job like
this is through getting recognition of skill and management of technical abilities on and off of the
field. The skills of a ref are judged by judicial councils that are mostly made up of former
referees that were all great at their jobs in the days they were active. When a referee is no longer
in an athletic condition to maintain the Laws of the Game, a majority of them become accessors
that control the fate of those below them. What is very uncanny about the sport of soccer is that
unlike many other sports referees are allowed to have their own style and perception on the rules
as long as they are consistent with calls and decisions pertaining to different teams and
situations. It is not the obligation of the referee to even partake in any game situations if
pressured. It is up to the official to register themselves for assignment, a referee can easily be
available to attend a game but isnt obligated to officiate the game until they have accepted to
handle that game in question.
A referees schedule can be very flexible if needed and can deal with many kinds of life
schedules. If you are a higher level referee it very common to receive free airfare, hotel, and
receive thousands of dollars for just one ninety minute proceeding. The main advantage to
having a job like this is that it is a very interesting career that can have many varied
opportunities. Some former referees have gone on to build their own businesses that organize and
sanction their own practices in coordination with state agencies and many other reffing
organizations_. This job is a very interesting and tough job to master, and even some of the
highest ranked referees in the world can still receive criticism from higher level officials.

Because of this, it can take a lot of trial and error techniques to properly find an adequate style
that suits the skills necessary for the game. If referee has too much trouble establishing their
target game mentality, it is possible to be shunned and outed from the reffing community.
This career is extremely important to the further development of soccer in this nation. It
is nearly impossible for any forms of advanced soccer to occur without good referees. Officiating
collaborates with the framework of soccer in the US to maintain and spread the game in
America. I think that I have what it takes to be a functioning member in a career with such a
status as this one. I feel that I would have the determination to someday become a professionallevel referee in the United States. Even though this is a job that few in the world ever get the
honor to achieve at a high ranking level, there is still a high level of demand to fulfill here in the
United States.