Nandan Nair

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A referee is one of the most important parts of the game, responsible for controlling and maintaining the safety of the players. They hold the game in their palms and can change a team’s fate in an instant. Occasionally, they also face lamentations, curses, swears or the like. It is a tough job, but if you do it right, the reward is priceless.

After refereeing my brother’s soccer game (https://nandannair.com/fweet-i-have-my-whistle/), I thought to myself: What would it be like to become a certified referee? It would be a fun learning experience.I got in touch with the referee assignor for the local league and enrolled in a program to get certified. An 8 hour long course with a test. Pass it and you become a referee. Prerequisite: You have to complete 18 online training modules teaching you the laws of the game.

The program is conducted by the Massachusetts State Referee Association, and hosted at various locations. During the program, they discussed the laws of the game, taught us some important aspects of being a referee, such as how to handle players and coaches, and demonstrated techniques to help us keep the game under control. After we took the assessments, they gave us our referee badges – a proof that we are now certified referees.

All in all, it was a fun experience, and I can’t wait to start reffing in the spring – this time as an actual referee, not a makeshift one! In case you want to become a ref too, visit https://www.massref.net/index.cfm