Written by Randy Vogt
The reasons for becoming an umpire for the Eastern New York State Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) are as diverse as the personalities of the approximately 3,000 umpires and assistant umpires.
“Twenty-five years ago, I was at a tournament with my sons and walking around the venue between games,” said Cathy Caldwell, president of the Long Island Soccer Referees Association (LISRA). “What caught my attention was the complete lack of female referees. There were a lot of women's matches being played, but there were no women officiating women's matches or any other matches. I was very curious. So, with a desire to someday work with young girls, I researched and found refereeing courses.”
With encouragement from other referees and a willingness to watch and learn from other referees, I got a little bit better at refereeing each week,” she continued, adding, “Ninety percent of the time, I love refereeing. !” he continued.
Meanwhile, up-and-coming referee Jared Sparks said of the role, “There weren't a lot of young referees, so I wanted to change the perception of refereeing.The other reason was, of course, because I loved playing the game.'' . Nothing makes me happier than playing, refereeing, or watching soccer. Making money while doing it is just a secondary benefit.”
Sparks continued. “Finally, I was always a quiet and shy child. I remember when I first started 'refre' I was timid and unsure of my abilities. I now have confidence and feel that I am a leader on the pitch. It took me quite a while to develop into the person I am today, but officiating each game has given me more confidence and belief in myself. ”
Local youth play soccer at Williamsbridge Oval Park in Norwood on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Video: Síle Moloney
Jean-Marie Maio, LISRA's record secretary, said she became a referee through the Genesis program. “Each club in the Long Island Junior Soccer League sends a parent as an umpire. So even if the umpire doesn't show up to the game, he can still officiate. I stuck with that. I have been the host for the past 18 years.”
Capital District Youth Soccer League (CDYSL) president Paul Bascom said he became a referee after his playing and coaching career ended. “I love being a referee as it allows me to keep the players, coaches and parents in the loop,” he said. “I've been doing this job for so long that I've earned the respect of almost everyone.”
Local youth play soccer at Williamsbridge Oval Park in Norwood on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Video: Síle Moloney
Rich Chonzo, a longtime referee, said: “When I was an assistant coach for my son's under-9 team, I remember the referee ignoring an opposing player who was 10 yards offside during a direct free kick. When I did that, I was in the game.” The official said, “You can't be offside on a free kick,'' but I knew that wasn't true. I decided then that if that was the level of refereeing available to local kids, I could definitely do better and became a referee! ”
Meanwhile, New York Soccer Referees Association (NYSRA) President Kami Riaji said one of his colleagues is a referee and asked him to become one as well. “He told me I should learn the rules,” Riaji said. “I've been playing soccer for a long time, and I didn't really like refereeing, and I thought I already knew the rules.I thought the same way about the rules until I took the referee certification course.''This course indicated that I also didn't know the rules and was going about it based on my experience as a player.”
“After officiating my first match, I was hooked,” Riaji added. “Referring soccer is the best thing I've ever done and I'm grateful for it giving me a passion in life.”
Interested in becoming a referee or co-referee with Kathy, Jared, Jean-Marie, Paul, Rich, and Kami? East New York is recruiting new grassroots referees, and our certification classes include online learning and classroom instruction. Consists of both learning. For more information, log on to https://enysreferee.org/how-to-become-a-referee/. If you have any questions, please email questions@enysreferee.org.
With more than 100,000 youth soccer players and more than 25,000 volunteers, the nonprofit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point on Long Island to the Canadian border. Members belong to his nine leagues throughout the association, covering all of New York State east of Route 81.
ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance soccer for children and youth aged 5 to 19 and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered, from intramurals, traveling teams, and premier players to children with special needs. We don't turn away kids who want to play soccer. ENYYSA is a proud member of the U.S. Soccer Federation and U.S. Youth Soccer. For more information, log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/.
New York/New Jersey selected as host city for 2026 FIFA World Cup Video provided by: YouTube
Randy Vogt is the Director of Communications for the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
Editor's note:
The Norwood News spoke to several young footballers at the Oval on Sunday March 10th. They wanted to know more about Frisch Field's availability as a potential soccer venue, since the oval tends to be packed for American football. The team practices all year round, but especially in the summer.Read the latest articles about Frisch Field here.
At the May 2023 Bronx Community Board 7 Parks meeting, it was confirmed that the final design for Frisch Field was in its final stages. We have reached out to New York City Parks for more information on plans and schedules and will share them as soon as we receive them. eEstimated completion dates for several construction projects were shared. These include the St. James Recreation Center, scheduled for completion in March 2024; The Webster House boiler is expected to be completed in July 2023, and the St. James dog run is expected to be completed in June 2023.
The February 2024 Bronx Community Board 7 Parks Committee meeting provided further updates on these park-related projects. The Frisch Field project is still in the design phase and is expected to be completed by June 30th. Additional work is required on the storm plan and approval is required from the New York City Department of Transportation.
St. James Recreation Center is scheduled to reopen in May 2024. Work still needs to be done on the floor and ceiling tiles, as well as some painting work. Regarding that point, Webster House Roof Project, Some improvements were made in-house, but replacing the roof would need to be a capital project.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy celebrated FIFA's July 2022 announcement that New York/New Jersey has been selected to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Click here to see David Beckham, former professional soccer player for Manchester United and currently president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF in Florida, as well as co-owner of Salford City FC, talk to Graham Norton. -You can watch a clip of him being interviewed on the show. I once intervened to referee his son's soccer game. Video courtesy of his BBC via YouTube.
To read some of our previous local soccer coverage, click here, here and here.