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 (Mass.)
2003
05/04/1970
Brian Hall (Calif.)
1992
06/05/1961
Michael Kennedy (lll.)
1999
03/16/1961
Arkadiusz Prus (N.J.)
2004
02/06/1964
Ricardo Salazar(lll.)
2005
09/06/1972
Kari Seitz (Calif.)
1999
11/02/1970
Kevin Stott (Calif.)
1995
07/09/1967
Ricardo Valenzuela (CA.)
1999
02/07/1964
Terry Vaughn (lowa)
2004
04/01/1973
Rachel Woo (Mass.)
2001
08/30/1968
Referee Assistants (14)
Int’l Since
Birthdate
Gregory Barkey (N.J.)
1995
08/20/1963
Nathan Clement (Del.)
1999
04/02/1961
Steven Davidson (Calif.)
2003
05/02/1967
Robert Fereday (Md.)
2000
05/19/1962
George Gansner (M0.)
2002
10/13/1971
Craig Lowry (Pa.)
1998
04/21/1961
Kim Oberle (N.C.)
2005
07/11/1967
Kermit QuisenBerry (Fla.)
2004
09/27/1968
Chris Strickland (Calif.)
2002
11/29/1966
Thomas Supple (Mass.)
2004
02/17/1965
Karalee Sutton (Pa.)
2003
04/08/1965
George Vergara (Va.)
1999
08/04/1960
Sharon Wheeler (N.Y.)
2000
09/03/1963
Brenda Wright (N.Y.)
2003
03/14/1964
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
10/03/2007
New England Revolution
3
FC Dallas
2
09/30/2007
U.S. Women
4
Norway Women
1
09/27/2007
U.S. Women
0
Brazil Women
4
U.S. Men vs. Switzerland
FSC & Galavision
10/17/2007 2:30 PM ET
U.S. Men vs. South Africa
Fox Soccer Channel
11/17/2007 9:00 AM ET
ABOUT U.S. SOCCER
The United States Football Association (renamed U.S. Soccer Federation) was granted provisional membership by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on August 15, 1913. A year later the organization was granted full membership.
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