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Mark Geiger has been refereeing in Major League Soccer (MLS) since 2004, taking charge of over 150 games � including Play-Offs � in that period. He�s also officiated in numerous major tournaments, including the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Geiger introduced himself to You are the Ref: "I remained a high school maths teacher even after turning professional as a referee and maybe there will be time to return to the profession I gave up in 2013, once I have hung up my whistle. Having said that, there may well be opportunities combining teaching and football. And, while I�m hopeful there will be many options open to me when the time comes, that is very much a discussion for another day! What I can say is that my old schools and the board of education could not have been more helpful. The timing of our season here certainly helped me schedule my games, sure, but I�d go so far as to say I may never have reached the World Cup semi-final and Olympic quarter-final level that I did without such fantastic co-operation from my employers in the early days. I was able to do a surprising amount of work remotely and I�ll always be grateful to the principals I dealt with and for their understanding of my goals. 

I was aged five when I started playing, as did most kids from my area of New Jersey. People in Europe may not appreciate that soccer is the most popular youth sport in the US, so it was both a means of making friends and seeing them regularly, too. At 13 I actually started refereeing as a means to make some money, and I didn�t realise there was so much more to it until I turned 20. That�s the time I started to go out of my way to watch role models like Esse Baharmast, Kevin Stott and Brian Hall, all of whom you�re probably familiar with. MLS was just getting started when I was 22 and it wasn�t until then that I felt confident enough to develop my own style, thanks to the support of local mentors such as Brian Fenlon and Barry Towbin. Having refereed at the highest level, nowadays people look to me, at the age of 41, to provide that role model myself, and I�m very involved in Maryland and Jersey in bringing through younger referees. I consistently communicate with referees far and wide as a mentor, in fact. The thing is, you don�t even realise there�s any kind of transition under way until long after it�s taken place! For example, I still felt like a rookie, or novice as you might call it, for four or five years of the MLS, and it honestly seems like it�s only in the blink of an eye that you�ve become a senior referee yourself� It�s also partly because of an expanding league and the constant sense of the addition every year of new teams with new players, that lent my experience an unfamiliar component, so I felt relatively new for the longest time. You can�t afford any sense of complacency either, and although I�ve never stopped working hard, there is a slight difference between keeping yourself on your toes as a veteran and the homework you undertake when you feel you are still trying to prove yourself. When people ask me about preparation, there is nothing unusual in my routine. I used to have so many pre-match superstitions I felt they were consuming me, but I cut them all out. Now that�s all over with, it basically amounts to watching games to learn the styles of the players you are going to be refereeing throughout the season. Obviously, nothing can replace the experience of being out there, but observing their interaction, I find, does help enormously with your game management. Each player requires different treatment, something again I�m fortunate to have already taken on board in the course of 17 years of teaching! So you try things out that you�ve planned beforehand in a game situation and, if it works, you go ahead and add it to your box of tricks, so to speak.

My team, or crew, has consisted for many seasons of fellow American Sean Hurd and the Canadian Joe Fletcher, who you may recall from an incident in the tunnel at the Maracana during the 2014 World Cup. More on that incident in a future column! I owe a lot to my crew, and our body language is a big part of our success. Any doubts can be conveyed by a simple glance and they have also come to learn precisely when I do need help and when I don�t. Together we have come a long way."

Chenard was among the candidates placed on a provisional list of 2015 World Cup referees three years ago. Following �training camps� in May 2014 in Switzerland and in February in Portugal, the international governing body for soccer included her and Michelle Pye of Kamloops, B.C., among 29 referees assigned to the competition scheduled for Ottawa and five other cities between June 6 and July 5. Marie-Jos�e Charbonneau of Mascouche, Que., and Suzanne Morisset of Beauport, Que., are among 44 assistant referees. All of them attended a late April camp in Switzerland, where the agenda included fitness testing, on-field technical sessions and instruction on the goal-line technology that will be used during the World Cup. The three Canadians, plus a fourth official from this country, worked together in a United States-New Zealand �friendly� at St. Louis on April 4, but there�s no guarantee Chenard, Charbonneau and Morisset will collaborate during the World Cup. Nor are they assured of more than one assignment each. As Canadians, they won�t officiate games involving the home team. As well, it�s likely they�ll have to watch from the stands for matches involving sister CONCACAF sides from the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica. Then there�s performance. Officials will be graded during each match and subsequent assignments will be based on those assessments. No assignments will be disclosed until 48-72 hours before each match commences. Chenard worked four games during the 2011 World Cup in Germany, and she called the Germany-Nigeria finals of the past two Under-20 World Cup tournaments, including last year in Montreal. �My goal is to not give them a reason to not give me another game, to perform and make sure that it�s not because of something I did on the field or something that I can control that is the reason I don�t get another game,� she says. �I just make sure I�m prepared.� The daughter of international speed skating officials and a former competitor in that sport, soccer, basketball and volleyball, Chenard now puts her McGill University PhD in microbiology and immunology to good use for Health Canada. Despite recently moving into a new position, she had to book herself off work between May 27, start of another pre-tournament camp at Vancouver, and one day after the July 5 final in that B.C. city. There are interim �release dates� as some officials return home to mirror a reduced number of teams still competing for the World Cup trophy. �You never know until 24 hours before, when they announce who�s staying and who�s going, and that�s maybe a difficult part of it because (only) some of it you can control,� Chenard says. �The better the Canadian women�s soccer team does, the less opportunity I have nearing the end of the tournament.� Last year�s Under-20 World Cup marked Chenard�s third Under-20 World Cup, starting with 2008 in Chile. She was also on the roster of officials for 2012 London Olympic soccer and assorted other national and international championships. As for Women�s World Cups opportunities, however, all that remain are this year in Canada and, perhaps 2019 in France. After that, Chenard will be past the age limit of 45 for international-level soccer referees. �Right now I�m having fun, I�m enjoying it,� she says. �My goal is the next World Cup. I�ll look at it after, but I don�t foresee stopping any time in the near future, unless something happens. Right now I�m enjoying myself and I�ll be as ready as I can be�.

Source: cbc.ca

It started 17 years ago with a newspaper ad in Kamloops. The story of Michelle Pye�s refereeing journey will reach its zenith at the 2015 FIFA Women�s World Cup. �It was the epitome of my goal, of all these hundreds of hours that I�ve spent, and all the sacrifices that my family makes for me to be able to do this,� Pye said. �The chance to achieve a World Cup is such a faraway dream. It�s so cool to actually get that opportunity.� The Beautiful Game�s 24-country summit runs from June 6 to July 5 in Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver. Pye, 36, and 38-year-old Carol Anne Chenard of Ottawa are the two Canadians among the 29 referees appointed to the tournament by FIFA�s Referees Committee, which picks only the best of the bunch from across the globe to work the World Cup.

The River City ref didn�t pick up a whistle until she was a 19-year-old student at the University College of the Cariboo, when her mother saw the newspaper ad recruiting officials to take a certification course. Working in the Kamloops Youth Soccer Association ranks seemed like a nice way to earn some extra coin, to help pay tuition. It turned out to be a lot more than that. Pye has climbed the officiating ladder, juggling duties with her family � a husband, a three-year-old daughter and 20-month-old twin boys � and her job as a teacher in Vancouver while honing her craft. �To get here after so many people thought there was no chance.. like, �You�ve had twins. You had to lose 60 pounds. How can you possibly do this?� Pye said. �There is no other female international referee in the world that has three kids.� Pye�s husband, Alain Ruch, is a former all-Canadian soccer player with the UCC Sun Demons and a national-calibre soccer official. Thoughts of calling games at the highest level became more realistic when Pye refereed at the under-17 women�s World Cup in New Zealand in 2008. In 2010, she worked the under-17 World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago and was appointed to officiate at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Last year, she was part of the crew at the under-20 women�s World Cup in Canada. After giving birth to twins, Pye took extended leave following her allotted maternity absence from Handsworth secondary in North Vancouver to ensure she could remain in peak physical condition this year while taking care of three children. There was still another roadblock in her way - Chenard, Canada�s ace women�s soccer referee, who already has World Cup and Olympic experience under her belt. �Carol Anne is excellent. If they were ever going to appoint two referees from the same country, though, this would be the time. But, there weren�t any favours done because Canada is hosting,� said Pye, one of four female international soccer referees in the nation. �We�re up against the exact same standards of all the referees in the world.� Those standards are exceptionally high. The list of 44 potential World Cup referees was released in December and each of them flew to Portugal in February for sprint, endurance and agility testing. They met minimum-requirement benchmarks or they left their dreams in Faro. FIFA trimmed the list to 29 after the Portugal camp, but the monitoring had just begun. Each referee is required to download and complete six training sessions each week, recording their results using Polar watches and uploading them for review by FIFA. One of those sessions must be a match. Pye patrols the pitch during men�s and women�s soccer games on weekends in Vancouver. The officials will gather again in Zurich for fitness testing, blood work, technical sessions and video analysis that begin on April 18 and wraps up on April 24. Ten days before the World Cup kicks off, there will be one final seminar in Vancouver, where the list of 29 referees will be cut down to 22, with the remaining seven to act as fourth officials at the tournament. �However I can be there, I�ll be totally satisfied with that,� Pye said. �After having the twins, feeling like all you do is change diapers and wipe noses all day long, it�s an achievement.� As for the pressure of officiating at a World Cup on home soil, Pye acknowledged it will be immense. �There are 40-plus cameras around the field watching every decision we make and we sit in a room after the game with 40-plus referees analyzing the clips and picking them apart,� Pye said. �We�re used to the pressure. Of course, you don�t want to make mistakes in your own country, but I don�t want to make mistakes in any country.� What Pye decides to do on July 6, a day after the World Cup final at BC Place Stadium, is a matter she will have to discuss with Alain. �With the kids, it�s hard for me to have to ask my husband to hold the fort down while I�m off chasing my dreams around the world,� Pye said. �But, you know, the Olympics are in 2016 � and that�s not too far away.� The all-female officials list for the 2015 World Cup features representatives from 49 countries. There are 44 assistant referees, including two from Canada � 32-year-old Marie-Josee Charbonneau of Mascouche, Que., and 30-year-old Suzanne Morisset of Beauport, Que. Referees are not paid by the game at the World Cup, according to Pye. They receive a per diem each day of the 29-day competition, plus a tournament-bonus fee. Pye is not certain, but she expects the referees� per diem to be about $100 per day. 

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the 2015 International Referee Symposium, held in Fort Lauderdale. CONCACAF referees and assistant referees that were added to the FIFA panel in 2015 were invited to this meeting.
I was added this year to the list of international referees to represent Canada. My nomination came as a great honor, since getting the FIFA badge had been a long-term dream of mine. Soon after my nomination, I was assigned to referee at the CONCACAF U17 Championship held in Honduras from February 24 to March 16. The Referee Symposium was hosted in Florida the weekend following the end of this tournament. During the Symposium, many inspiring presentations on technical, physical and psychological aspects of refereeing at the international level were given by various top level speakers such as Sonia Denoncourt, Armando Archundia, Arturo Brizio, Peter Prendergast, Edgardo Codesal, Rodolfo Sibrian, Alan Morgan Brown and PRO Match Official Development Manager Brian Hall. From a practical point of view, participants ran the FIFA interval fitness test over the weekend and, one of the great aspects of this meeting, was getting to work with staff members and referees from different parts of the CONCACAF region. I was pleased to be present at the Referee Symposium for the third straight year - the previous editions were held in Mexico (2013) and Costa Rica (2014). These events, along with the training offered by PRO and the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), clearly contribute to my development as a referee. This year, I had the chance to go to the Symposium with fellow PRO officials Drew Fischer (FIFA Referee, Canada), Armando Villarreal (FIFA Referee, USA) and Corey Parker (FIFA Assistant Referee, USA). We were all honored to participate in this event.
I have been on the CSA National Referee List since 2007. I started working as a 4th official in MLS in 2012 and, since its inception, PRO has always supported me in different ways. For instance, I have been following fitness programs created by PRO Sports Scientist Matt Hawkey and attended multiple PRO training camps. Also, on top of the assignments from CSA, I received many development opportunities from PRO to referee NASL, USL, MLS preseason and international friendly matches in the United States. Furthermore, I can already see the positive impact of the addition of Brian Hall at PRO, who now closely supervises the progression of individuals on the 4th official list. At this point in 2015, I am grateful that my 23rd season as a referee started with multiple great opportunities. I will continue to work hard and follow the guidance of PRO, CSA, CONCACAF and FIFA to hopefully get additional opportunities at the international and MLS levels in order to continue my development and try to become the best referee I can be.

Source: PRO