Community Connection
For my community connection assignment I interviewed Marco Arruda who is a referee manager for Port Coquitlam EURO-RITE FC. Before he became a referee manager, Marco was a referee manager he was a
National Assistant Referee who worked for the Vancouver Whitecaps MLS and Canadian Championship games for 4 seasons from 2012 – 2015.
I started refereeing at the age of 12 and my passion for it started growing overtime. I was a referee for the New West Club before I joined the Port Coquitlam Euro-Rite FC. Marco Arruda is a mentor and helps referees improve and succeed. I wanted to interview him because I love refereeing and it offers so many opportunities like gaining leadership skills and learning more about the sport I play which is soccer. Refereeing gave me a different perspective on the sport I play and helped me understand soccer from a different point of view. I became a referee because I wanted to understand soccer more but now I ref because I am passionate and want to become a high
level referee in the future. Marco is someone who has experience in this field and I want to learn to advance to higher levels.
After interviewing Marco, I gained so much more knowledge about refeering. There were certain topics about refereeing I wasn’t certain about but after the interview, I took notes on those topics to improve. For example, I wasn’t aware that we had to arrive 25-30 mins before the game. Now that I’ve learned that I will keep tips like those in mind.
Interview questions and answers:
Q1: Can you explain your roles and responsibilities with your current position?
A1: My roles and responsibilities as referee manager include: mentorship, education, certification and administration.
Mentorship involves observing referees in action and offering feedback. Education involves in-person and Zoom sessions covering the laws of the game and video analysis as well as field sessions covering fitness, awareness, positioning and teamwork. Certification involves making sure current referees are registered and attend an annual refresher course. Administration involves working with the club scheduler to ensure referees with the correct level of skill and experience are being assigned to relevant games.
A2: Obstacles that I have faced include balancing my role as referee manager with:
– my job as a highschool teacher
– my family that includes 2 young children (8 and 5)
Q3: What advice would you pass on to someone interested in what you are doing?
A3: The advice that I would give to someone interested in what I am doing would be firstly to enjoy their refereeing career, stay engaged with the laws of the game and to continue to educate themselves about refereeing. Secondly, as a person moves to a stage in their refereeing career where they have enough experience that they could help others by sharing their experience, they could look for opportunities in their club to assist with mentoring and education. The best way to get involved would be to contact their club head referee.
Q4: Why are you passionate about your role?
A4: I am so passionate about my current role because I am deeply committed to soccer refereeing. I have been involved in refereeing for almost 30 years, beginning as a small-sided referee in the mid 1990s and peaking as a National Assistant Referee who worked a number of Vancouver Whitecaps MLS and Canadian Championship games for 4 seasons from 2012 – 2015. Now that I am a referee manager, my passion lies in helping young referees realize their full refereeing potential.
Q5: Was it always your goal to become a referee manager or is this something you enjoy doing in your spare time?
A5: It was not always my goal to become a referee manager, but now that I am one, I am humbled and honored to work with so many eager and engaged referees. When my career as a National Assistant Referee ended, I was approached by Poco Euro-Rite FC and I accepted their offer to become the referee manager for the club. This is a part-time role that I fulfill in addition to my job as a high school teacher.
What drew me to this role was the opportunity to give back to the game that has given me so much.
Q6: What tips would you give to beginner referees?
A6: Referee for the love of the game and not for money. Arrive to your match 25-30 minutes before kickoff so that you can: perform a field inspection, check the equipment of players from
both teams, deal with the game ball(s), warmup and do a coin toss. Wear your referee uniform (including your badge and pulled up socks) with pride. Dress for the weather, which means wearing layers in the late fall and winter. Practice your whistle tone and volume often, along with your signals and movement (get to the left, look between players). Ask questions if you are not sure about anything to do with the laws of the game or club/district specific rules. Communicate clearly, respectfully and confidently with players and coaches using both words and body language. Watch and talk to more experienced referees to learn as much as possible.
Below, please find another question that I have answered in a previous interview of this nature:
What are some things that you would still like to accomplish in your time working as a referee manager?
Some things that I would still like to accomplish in my time working as a referee manager are: increased registration and improved level of refereeing. We currently have approximately 25 referees registered with Poco who are certified to referee 11-a-side games along with approximately 25 referees who are certified to referee small-sided games. My goal is to increase those numbers by 20% over the next 2 seasons (2023-24 and 2024-25), while lowering the average age of the 11-a-side referees by continuing to train teenagers and young adults.
Regarding level of refereeing, I have targeted a few referees interested in upgrading from district referee to regional referee and I am actively recruiting small sided referees to take the 11-a-side referee course this coming summer. I am also going to continue to run field sessions where referees of all ages and levels of experience can improve their skills.
After this interview, I have learned so much more on how to be a disciplined referee. Thank you Marco for taking the time to answer my questions. I learned so much!
I emailed and asked all the question (pics of the chat)-
port coquitlam euro rite fc – Bing image
