I have had the pleasure of being part of our passionate soccer community for over 15 years. I am currently the only adult soccer referee in Oliver.
I love this sport, and although I do have the energy to officiate four games on a typical spring Saturday on the SOSS field, I’ll bet our players, parents and coaches would appreciate variations of personality within the laws of the game. So we need to recruit.
There are two levels of refereeing certification courses coming up – March 15-17 in Penticton for the 14 year olds and a four-hour course in Oliver on Sunday, March 9 for 13 year olds.
Calling all active adults, semi and retired residents, parents of teens, post secondary students returning home. Let’s build a team of officials to help this beautiful game in Oliver and Osoyoos.
Please visit www.pinnaclesfc.com for course details, registration fees, pay structure and refunds of clinic fees once you’ve done a number of games.
How did this mom end up refereeing? We parents often find ourselves recruited to coach our kids’ mini teams at U5, then continue coaching them as they progress through youth.
Ten years ago Osoyoos hockey and soccer mom Caroline Bolland, who had been assigning soccer officials for both of our towns, figured since I scheduled for minor hockey scorekeepers/refs, I could adopt back the soccer assigning for our Oliver matches.
What a job I inherited! Even with a list of 20 officials, very few wanted to ref anymore, mainly due to post secondary commitments in other locations, but most didn’t want to deal with the pressure and taunts from the sidelines. I had to beg adult refs from Summerland and Penticton to come down to officiate.
Everyone should visit www.fifa.com site to view their fantastic offside scenarios, clearly laid out with animation. Warning: Offside interpretation has been modified again this year. Be prepared to see more goals.
Our Oliver roster was built back up to a dozen youth (recruiting own kids and their peers). I tried to attend most matches that I’d assigned to these young officials, patrolling the sidelines to quell any obnoxious or confidence eroding behaviours of spectators and coaches. By interpreting and explaining the laws of the game with parents and coaches on the sidelines, there became fewer outbursts of displeasure. And those parents that had encouraged their own teens to get into officiating also helped quell potential outbursts because yelling at these brave teenagers just isn’t cool or appropriate.
So thank you parents, coaches and players for allowing us officials to make some mistakes. A common one is our arm or flag pointing the wrong way just after starting the second half; sometimes called “half-time dyslexia” as the teams are now going the other direction.
Your gentle sideline manners are much appreciated and are the key to retaining future officials so that we provide our kids with enjoyable experiences in sport.
Our local club: Pinnacles FC (formerly known as S.O.Y.S.A) is an amalgamation of Osoyoos, Oliver, Keremeos, Penticton and Summerland youth players. The referee assigning is now done via a central online system for all of our towns. Once the spring schedule of club matches are inputted into the system, registered officials accept matches that fit their life schedule and comfort level.
Matches need officials from late March until late June in both of our towns. Typically we’ll host two to six full field matches at SOSS each Saturday (9 am to 5 pm) and a few more matches on the Tuc-el-Nuit school field.
Pinnacles FC has initiated new tournaments here in the south: the first annual Desert Heat Tournament will occur on the May long weekend and jamborees for mini- players each month in alternating towns.
For the keeners looking for more (higher caliber) games, Penticton and north to Kelowna offer many opportunities with tournaments and multiple adult leagues.
I continue to pursue the highest level of officiating that I can get to. My Saturdays and Friday nights are dedicated to our local matches here in Oliver. I also enjoy officiating in Kelowna’s Womens League.
Sundays has me doing a couple of matches for BC Soccer Premier League and each July a team of us head to the provincials.
We have a great group of senior and knowledgeable referees based in Penticton and it’s great to work with them during tournaments. It would be great to have our own Oliver team of referees for camaraderie too.
Step up to the plate people and please talk to your soccer loving kids too.
Some people are making $1,200-$2,000 a month with part time officiating. This skill and certification brings instant employment wherever you go in Canada.
Lee Mounsey
Special to the Chronicle
