Welcome readers. My name is Nick Balcer, editor for the MRC Newsletter. This is my first month being the editor, so I’d like to give you a little of my background. This year is my 19th year of being a certified referee, all of them in Michigan. I am a US Soccer National Assistant Referee, PRO2 Assistant Referee, and NCAA referee. I primarily work games in the USL Championship, which is the 2nd tier of the US Soccer Pyramid. I have been working as a professional AR since 2019 and was fortunate enough to make my MLS debut in September of 2020. My goal as editor is to share stories from our fellow officials from around the state, highlight accomplishments from all different levels, and bring updates from around the world of refereeing. I hope you enjoy reading and if you have any ideas that you think would be a good feature in our newsletter, please feel free to share with me at balcer.nicholas@gmail.com. 

Inside this issue

• New Director of Recruitment & Director of Communications
• Coming up in Michigan
• Referee of the Month: Matthew Sherry
• Michigan Referees by the Numbers
• WMYSA Referee Scholarship Program
• Grassroots Recert 
• IFAB Laws of the Game 2022-23 Changes Refresher
• 2023 John Bieniewicz Memorial College Scholarship Applications
• Stan Krajkowski retires from the DDRD
• Remembering Kevin Mesman, 1978-2022
• Evolution of Referee Training

As the Michigan Referee Committee continues to grow and expand its footprint, it has added opportunities for more areas of outreach to officials and prospective officials. In doing so, we would like to introduce two new positions within the MRC. 

First, we would like to welcome our new Director of Recruitment, Kristy Bos. Kristy hails from Grand Rapids and has been a certified referee for 13 years. She got her start in the game at 11 years old when she wanted to have a job around the sport she grew up loving and to make a little money. Refereeing quickly turned into a passion and she loves the referee community she has been a part of for more than a decade. As the new Director of Recruitment, Kristy’s goals are to keep growing the new numbers of referees we get registered each year, make the registration process as streamlined & easy as possible, and grow the retention rate to continue to build the referee program.

Secondly, we would like to welcome our new Director of Communications, Eric Siegrist. Eric is from Wixom and has been a referee for just shy of 10 years. He first got involved in refereeing at the age of 11. His interest was piqued after his sister signed up to be a referee. So he signed up for a class and the rest is history. As the Director of Communications, Eric will be bringing engaging content via the MRC social media channels. He will also be revamping the entire MRC communication strategy and helping to support referee recruitment. Speaking of communication, make sure to follow the MRC on Twitter @MichiganReferee, subscribe to the MRC YouTube Channel, and follow our blog MRC Referee Tips. 

The MRC and entire Michigan Referee community shares its condolences with our friends and fellow colleagues from South Dakota on the passing of Kevin Mesman. Kevin was a staple at Midwest Region events officiating games, mentoring, and passing out compliments to referees. It was hard to miss his tall frame, Aviator sunglasses, gelled hair, and smile. He was instrumental in building the South Dakota Referee Program and helped seek out many opportunities for young officials in the state and region. Kevin will be missed greatly by all who knew him. Rest in Peace Kevin.

I became a US Soccer referee instructor in Michigan when Ronald Reagan was president. If you don’t know when that was you can do your own Google search! 

In those “Days of Yore” the introductory referee course was all done in a classroom on four successive Saturdays at facilities that the Michigan Referee Committee rented. We handed out printed books on the Laws of the Game and used a black board. Some of the more creative instructors went to the copy center and made “transparencies” that we projected on a screen with an overhead projector. Handwritten explanations of the laws, diagrams, and static photos of fouls were the most sophisticated teaching tools. With time and the innovation of PowerPoint we could use approved visuals to teach the course using an expensive projector attached to our laptop computer. 

In those days a referee instructor to be effective had to have a good speaking voice, accurate about his explanations of the Laws, be able to be witty, and have a few interesting “war stories” to illustrate the topics they were teaching. The most effective instructors were therefore the most interesting presenters.

In the past few years, the use of videos to illustrate fouls, misconduct, and law infractions have brought referee instruction to new levels. With many of the videos having their own narration, instructors do not need to be excellent entertainers. The use of US Soccer online referee training has done much to make sure every new referee candidate gets consistent instructional information.

During all these years one piece of the learning curve for new referees was missing: actual practice of blowing the whistle, making signals, and physical mechanics of where to be to make a call. As instructors, we knew this was missing but did not quite know what to do about it. Our newly graduated referees were cast out into shark-infested waters to either swim or get eaten by sharks. Some referee associations mentored new referees when they first started and some experienced referees who could provide helpful feedback to rookie referees. New referees watched more experienced veterans and mimicked them. You can imagine how many referees developed their skills depending on this mode of unofficial training. Fortunately, there were many well-informed older referees to supply some of the rookies with good feedback. Michigan developed many extremely effective seasoned referees through other methods of mentoring promising soccer referees.

Several years ago, US Soccer finally came up with an answer and required a practical field session as a part of the certification process.

With the interruption caused by the pandemic, the introduction of the field session was delayed for the most part. Field sessions were held sporadically throughout the state, but the important news is that a field session is now required for certification as referee.

In a three-hour field session, future referees learn about mechanics, positioning, signaling, etc. They also learn how to blow a whistle as a communication tool. The actual “exercises” will provide practice in the skills necessary to officiate. Referees who were certified without the field session requirement are invited to attend various field session opportunities that local associations may provide.

Referee training has evolved for years but with the introduction of the field session requirement, we have another tool to provide new referees with skills that they can implement right away.

Please reach out to us!

If you have any referee-related stories to share or someone you think should be featured in this newsletter, please reach out to the Editor-In-Chief, Brad Barlog at bcbarlog@yahoo.com.