Fast-track for pro players to pro referee

To my knowledge, I've never seen a high-level player also referee. My suspicion is that they don't see the game much better than an experienced referee. What have others seen/what do others think?

 

It's more of lack of interest, more respect and money in coaching.

 

The only referee that comes to mind quickly is a HOCKEY referee, Paul Stewart, who played a handful of games in the NHL, and then had a long career as a referee.

 

I think MLS had something similar in place on fast tracking former players to get into MLS, but none of them took the league up on their offer.

 

I seem to remember that as well. I also am remembering quotes from players on why they don't do it. The most common response was something like, "I didn't want to deal with players like me."

 

Leon Wood was a decent player for the Sixers for a few years and has been an NBA referee for quite a while.

I've never seen a player say "I want to become a pro referee" when they're interviewed about what they want to do once they hang up their cleats. Once you've reached the highest level, there is nothing desirable about going into officiating.

 

Casey Frankiewicz also comes into the equation. He played 1st division in Poland in the 60's and the original NASL in the 60's and 70's. After he hung up his cleats he traded them in for a whistle. I'm not sure if he ever refereed in the MLS or NASL but I do know that he is/was a National Assessor.

 

Haywoode Workman played a few years for the Atlanta Hawks and is an NBA referee today. Nate Jones played eight years in the NFL and is a football referee in CUSA. Bruce Benedict pitched for the Atlanta Braves and is an NCAA basketball referee.

 

There is at least one other, Kevin McGuire he played about 250 NHL games but had a short career as a referee. Also a tough guy, oddly, like Stewart. Many many officials in the NHL were good hockey players at the junior, college, or minor pro levels and move to officiating as a way to stay connected. The NHL can pick its own referees from whatever pool it would like so a guy can be in the ECHL or AHL within months of signing up so to speak. Skating is so important to hockey that it makes sense for players to have an easier path as well.

The idea makes sense, we already make it easier for pros to get coaching licenses, I think they can start at C instead of F. The problem is that it may not be a good enough living compared to other options. There's going to be a different feel for the game I'd think and perhaps even a different level of empathy. I'd also think it would be much easier for a pro to adapt to high level games quickly, but I also think the pros who might be willing to consider it also know how difficult it is in a way one of us might not.

 

Prus may have played too. I never asked him, but I'd heard that from others. He trained kids all through his MLS years and had some really nice skill.

 

I think the article overplays the advantages that a retired player would bring to the table. Admittedly, in many ways this player will have an advantage, but in others there are things he's going to have to unlearn and such things can sometimes be harder than the learning. It's all a matter of degree. Physically, I can easily see a benefit.

I am unconvinced his soccer skills are going to get him more than 1 or 2 years off the normal development track. He is, obviously, under the opinion that it's worth more.

It's possible that this individual is truly a savant and could easily move faster, but we're talking about creating an established track for more to follow. What would the failure rate be? Are such referees going to show the same determination as the non-player tracks or will most just enjoy their retirement after it proves to be harder than they anticipated?

 

This guy thinks the British leagues DON'T want former players to ref: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...nds-former-championship-players-quest-become/

Cheers, Mi3ke

 

I thought this was interesting:

“The rules say you can’t referee any club you once played for. Including loan spells, I played for 18 clubs, four of which are now in the Premier League. It means half the games I wouldn’t be able to referee. To me, it’s ridiculous because I played against teams I’d played for."
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On one level I'm sympathetic, but on another it is so obvious what the outcry would be if a referee made a controversial decision involving a team he once played for.

I would expect experience to help a referee move faster -- but would also expect that movement would have to be based on actual demonstration of having reached a level, not "oh, he was a playe, let's move him up."

 

College coaching job with camps and endorsement money on the side (and you have to be pretty bad to get fired as a college coach) can easily be $100,000 a year. Versus refereeing, which means a pretty short career as a referee because, with very few exceptions, you aren't going to be doing MLS much past 45 and then what do you do?

It is also my experience that players at a high level just have a totally different mind set than someone who can be a successful referee. Yes, there are exceptions here too, but to think that former players are going to be a major source of MLS/FIFA referees is to be out of touch with reality.

 

Prus didn't play professionally, I have however officiated one of his ametuer matches.

 

This is an idea that has been around forever, and has never had more than the thinnest veneer of merit.

It's an idea that sounds like a good idea, but only to someone who not generally very well acquainted with good ideas.

I can't even be bothered to give all the reasons why it's nonsense. To me, it's almost like, if you really believe in this idea, there's going to be no convincing you otherwise. So why even bother discussing it.

Which I suppose begs the question as to why I am responding in this thread at all. So it goes.

 

Amazing that both were enforcers. I happened to have attended a pre season game that Stewart was playing in. In those days, the pre season matches usually devolved into a slugfest. I can't remember if Stewart was a New York Ranger farmhand or a visiting player. But, early in the game he got into at least two fights and was finally ejected whereupon he mooned the crowd.

 

In the last Women's World Cup one of the referees, from N Korea I believe, had played in prior WWC's. She ended up working the third place game as either the 4th or referee. Don't remember the details but Busacca mentioned her in an interview.

Allen Chapman played in whatever form the NASL or USL was when he was younger. In the US, that's as close to a professional player turning to refereeing as I think we have seen in the last 20 years.

 

I forgot about that N. Korean referee. I thought that she was pretty good. Some of her signalling was a bit over the top but overall she managed the games really well.

 

Kerry Fraser was a hothead too. Its how he got started. One of the referees he was always irritating suggested he go to an officiating camp. He was in the pros soon after.

 

Tim Tyma, who was a played professional indoor soccer in the original MISL and NPSL, is a professional indoor and college referee.

 

Here's me not knowing that professional indoor soccer was a thing.

 

I remember seeing it in the early days of ESPN. I did not know it was still a thing. A mixture of soccer and hockey, kicking it off the walls. Fun to watch.

 

My daughter was a "goal judge" for professional indoor soccer when she was 15. They got two tickets to the game as their compensation. So "professional?" But she did work with some top referees that came in to blow the whistle, including Sandy Hunt and Brian Hall.