The U.S. Soccer Platinum Program is an intensive training program for a select number of male and female referees and assistant referees. Participants in the program will attend approximately six national training events per year, acquire experience in amateur and professional level matches and participate in regular webinar training. Participation in the program will be under the guidance of a local mentor and U.S. Soccer Referee Identification and Training Department staff. Pros: * Accelerated Upward Mobility/ Exposure * Take Part in Prestigious Soccer Events *Opportunity to be Mentored by the best *Premium Development Opportunities Cons *Time Demands *No Compensation for Events *Travel Minimum of 6 times a year a week at a time Any thoughts fellow forum members?
Why can't they have local National Training sessions? Why all the travel requirements...I can run and study and test and listen in my own state.
From the bits and pieces I've heard about I think the week long events are all tournaments and such; DA showcase, Dallas Cup, etc.
Wasn't it more of a general statement of 'help' with travel expenses, not a statement that everything would be covered?
I have not heard anything about this program. Where is the information coming from. I've looked at U.S. Soccer's website and have not found any information.
Events: Academy Finals Week MLS Generation Adidas Cup Armed Forces Championship NIKE International Friendlies Dallas Cup This info was first discussed at the RTS and has now been confirmed They are seeking to identify 10-12 top male and female officials to reach professional or national status
I'm glad this is here, I know there have been academies and such but this seems like the first initiative coordinated at the national level. Were I just a little younger I'd be all over this. However, by the time I could get to National (if I did) I'd be too old to do anything with it.
"Participants graduate from the program to either the professional or national level." And this is consisting of youth tournaments. We are going backwards with the illusion of progress.
it's working consistently and directly with the top mentors and other peers that makes the program strong. not everything is youth. not the armed forces tournament nor the professional camps in jan. and june. besides, who says the top youth events can't be effective for training? the Nike friendlies are the most professional it can get and those games can be very difficult. not like they can have gatherings for mls games. plus, each person in the group is given additional local mentorship for local games (which can be mls reserve, pdl, amateur, etc.) to continue development between the gaps of those national events. sounds well-rounded for a 1-3 year commitment. how could it be better?
You think Top officials in any other country in the world got to the Professional level doing mostly youth games and some adult games. I don't know why we don't look to other countries and how they develop their referees, we seem to just want to give our prospects no chance...send them out on the field with no experience and watch them drown. We've seen what referees these programs produce.
wat. where do you think the top officials in this country came from? where do you think guys like penso, guzman, stoica, chapman, foerster, armando, etc. etc. have come from? so what is a better way to develop new officials and prepare them for the next level? the program is a bridge from the youth to the lower level professional game, not a jump straight to mls. you're oversimplifying it.
Not one of the people you mentioned would make it in Football League 1 or 2 in England. There are adult leagues, there are U23 matches, there are serious tournaments you could use. This youth junk shouldn't be to even develop National Referees. This is for referees like State 6's.
Yeah you are right, but we simply don't have that soccer structure that countries like England, Italy and Spain have. Unfortunately, it's the best we got and unless MLS wants to import refs it's the only way to develop referees. You got to do with what you have.
[quote="SimpleGame6, post: 25760665, member: this youth junk shouldn't be to even develop National Referees. This is for referees like State 6's.[/quote] Just curious, have you ever participated in events the caliber of the ones the Platinum Program will consist of?
Just curious, have you ever participated in events the caliber of the ones the Platinum Program will consist of?[/quote] Nope I'm a step or two below those events as far as reffing is concerned. That's kind of my point though, I do academy games and college games. I am not a step below National...or Professional referee status (I probably never will be a National). These competitions are supposed to get people to National? In my opinion that's BS. The level of play at these competitions isn't high enough at all. Local O30 teams with some international players would spank them.
Much more emphasis could be placed on the 2nd and 3rd divisions, even PDL and NPSL. NASL, USL Pro, PDL, and NPSL games have much more challenging management situations, more gamesmanship, professional BS, etc etc etc than Development Academy games. The actual skill and quality of play in many DA games is quite good. But the players are playing in a very structured, microscopic environment and are generally on their best behavior. The number of difficult, challenging matches for referees is very small. The matches just aren't that tough, and they don't prepare officials well to work professional matches. Currently, USL Pro matches are handled primarily by local crews. Same with NASL, except for the referee position. If PRO, USSF, and the local leagues treated these games more seriously from the officiating standpoint -- which would require some added investment in terms of $$ and other things -- more & better experience could be gained by the people working those matches.
I'm with Thug, the name of the program is a little comical - I envision Alec Baldwin and a group of medieval bandits pitching it..."what badge is on your shirt?" That said I still like the idea of the program, will be curious to see how it takes shape.
This will pretty much disqualify anyone with a real job. Who has 6 weeks to commit? If it was every holiday weekend, that would be doable. But 6 full weeks?