U.S. Soccer Federation’s Referee Membership has grown tremendously in the past decade and at the conclusion of 2004 the total number of referees – including instructors and assessors – registered through the USSF surpassed 140,000. This figure is one of the largest among the 204 nations belonging to FIFA. U.S. Soccer Referees call games at every level of the sport in the United States, including youth, amateur and professional games, as well as sanctioned international competitions.
American referees are playing an increasing role in CONCACAF and continue to get more and better appointments to work international matches. In2004, U.S. Soccer referees worked 185 international matches in the United States alone, as well as officiating in numerous international tournaments outside of the U.S.
Some of the events at which the United States was represented included the Algarve Cup, the Four Nations Tournament, the Toulon Tournament, the 2004 Olympic Games and numerous CONCACAF qualifiers and international friendlies outside of the United States. Director of International and Professional Development, Esse Baharmast, supervises the development of referees for international assignments.
The hard work of U.S. Soccer’s Referee Program was rewarded early in 2005 when long-time official Kevin Stott was honored by FIFA as one of 46 international referees selected to compete for one of the 30 referee positions at the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006.
U.S Soccer originally began comprehensively training and developing a large number of referees in the early 1970s. The referee program has grown to become of the largest in the world, and is conducted by qualified state referee instructors in a consistent manner throughout the nation. The training program includes a requirement for referees to attend advanced national training programs annually and is under the direction of Alfred Kleinaitis, Manager of Referee Training and Development.
At the end of each year, FIFA announces the list of international referees and referee assistants that are eligible to officiate FIFA sanctioned matches in the coming year. The current American contingent, which represents a total of approximately 130,000 registered officials in the United States, includes 10 referees, 14 referee assistants and three Futsal referees. Following is a look at the current U.S. Representatives on the FIFA list
Referees (10)
Int’l Since
Birthdate
Jennifer Bennet (Calif.)
2003
05/04/1970
Mark Geiger (N.J.)
2008
06/25/1974
Jair Marrufo (Texas)
2007
06/19/1977
Arkadiusz Prus (S.C.)
2004
02/06/1964
Ricardo Salazar (lll.)
2005
09/06/1972
Kari Seitz (Calif.)
1999
11/02/1970
Sandra Serafini (N.C.)
2006
11/03/1968
Kevin Stott (Calif.)
1995
07/09/1967
Baldomero Toledo (Calif.)
2007
02/06/1970
Terry Vaughn (lowa)
2004
04/01/1973
Referee Assistants (13)
Int’l Since
Birthdate
Gregory Barkey (N.J.)
1995
08/20/1963
Marlene Duffy (Calif.)
2008
08/04/1979
George Gansner (Mo.)
2002
10/13/1971
Charles J. Morgante (Pa.)
2007
05/24/1974
Veronica Perez (Calif.)
2008
10/31/1979
Kermit QuisenBerry (Fla.)
2004
09/27/1968
Corey Rockwell (Ariz.)
2007
02/26/1974
Chris Strickland (Calif.)
2002
11/29/1966
Thomas Supple (Mass.)
2004
02/17/1965
Fabio Tovar (Calif.)
2006
01/03/1967
Anthony Vasoli (Ill.)
2008
10/20/1970
Adam Wienckowski (Md.)
2007
08/02/1975
Sharon Wheeler (N.Y.)
2000
09/03/1963
Fustal Assistants (14)
Int’l Since
Birthdate
Shane Butler (Okla.)
2005
01/05/1975
Jason Krnac (Ohio
2005
12/03/1973
Feliciano Palomino (Utah)
2004
09/12/1965
05/10/2008
U.S. Women
6
Canada Women
0
05/03/2008
U.S. Women
5
Australia Women
4
04/27/2008
U.S. Women
3
Australia Women
2
U.S. Men vs. England
ESPN Classic (live), Galavision (delay 7 pm ET/PT)
05/28/2008 3:00 PM ET
U.S. Men vs. Spain
ESPN2 (5 pm ET), Galavision (7 pm ET/PT)
06/04/2008 4:00 PM ET
U.S. Men vs. Argentina Presented by Visa
Live on ESPN Classic and Galavision
06/08/2008 7:30 PM ET
ABOUT U.S. SOCCER
The first USFA (now U.S. Soccer) Secretary General Thomas Cahill also doubled as the U.S. MNT program's inaugural head coach on a six-game tour of Sweden and Norway in 1916.
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