(Photo Credit: Michael Blackton / Caption: Randy Vogt refereeing the South Shore Bulldogs)
I have been the Public Relations Director of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) for over a decade but I was a referee long before that. Taking up the whistle when I was 16 years old in 1978, I’ve officiated for the past 46 years. Here are my Top 10 Great Things About Being a Soccer Referee:
1. Refereeing looks good on a resume, particularly if you just graduated from college: When I graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1984, I thought that I was going to set the advertising world on fire (which never actually worked out exactly that way). But first, I needed to obtain my first job and had a problem filling up one page on a resume with such little experience. So I added refereeing to the bottom. Turns out there was an entry-level opening at Manhattan ad agency Sudler & Hennessey, I sent my resume, the boss showed it to a Regional Referee there who told him, “Hire Randy. Refereeing at such a young age shows maturity.”
2. You learn to remain calm at all times, even if everybody else is negative and upset: Being calm is a very good personality trait to have.
3. You start speaking in foreign languages: The more foreign language words you can speak on the field, the less dissent you will receive in that tongue as players and coaches will be unsure what you understand and what you don’t.
4. You earn good money: Although for nearly every ref in the United States, refereeing is our avocation but the extra money earned from officiating is very nice.
5. You learn that it’s not about you but about them (the players): And this is a wonderful attitude to have. Referring just above to #4, those who make it about the other person and not themselves will always find work, even much more so than the people who are solely focused on making a living.
6. You learn to manage people: Another thing that is so helpful for that weekend referee earning a living from Monday to Friday as he or she can transfer the items learned in managing players, coaches and even officiating colleagues to the corporate world.
7. You are your own boss and go directly to the customer: There are no intermediaries whatsoever, you sink or swim based on how you do, and you also decide when you can ref in working with assignors.
8. You get (or stay) fit: I have to do a great deal of cardiovascular training, particularly now at 61 years old, to continue to be able to stay up with much younger players in running up and down a soccer field. My Primary Care Physician looked at my excellent blood results and said, “Keep refereeing.”
9. You expand yourself by leaving your comfort zone: Where there is a risk, there is often a reward. In every game officiated, refs leave their comfort zone as they could be confronted by unhappy players, coaches and spectators. Yet thankfully, this does not happen in the majority of games. There is much reward and satisfaction in sticking to it and working with players and coaches in producing a fair and controlled game.
10. You meet the greatest people: So many are my friends, including my closest friends, are players, coaches and fellow referees. Seemingly every few weeks, I am warmly stopped on the street by somebody who remembers that I refereed their game when they played way back when, often calling me by my name, and it feels great to be remembered and know that I have made a positive difference in a person’s life.
