Soccer referees aiming high through CIFA

Brac referees with Brac Sports Instructor Mitchum
Sanford and General Secretary of the Cayman Island
Football Association Bruce Blake (front left) and Referee
Tutor Fred Speirs and President of the Cayman
Islands Referees Association, Godfrey Bowen
(front right). 

Newly qualified referees Stephen Scott, Tony Knight,
Jared Lewis, Martino Watson and Flynn Bush

Friday,  October 14, 2005

Five referees on Cayman Brac who recently passed their qualifying test, were presented with certificates by President of the Cayman Islands Referees Association, Godfrey Bowen.

“Cayman Brac has come a long way since I came here last two years ago, due to the tutoring by Fred Speirs and his dedication to football over the years.

“Our Minister of Sports should look into getting sports on the whole going on the Brac. There’s no sense in developing football players and referees without having the proper playing facilities”, Mr Bowen said.

General Secretary of the Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA), Bruce Blake, said that it’s good to see a number of individuals qualify as referees, and CIFA would do its part to advance referees, not only on the domestic level, but also on the international level.

“We have seen that they have made a commitment to become referees and we will match that commitment,” he said.

Mr Blake said that CIFA would make sure they get the required practical experience through refereeing games and going on referee courses. The association would also assist them to become FIFA referees, which should be the ultimate goal of all young referees.

There is no minimum age for international referees and the English association has some as young as seventeen, noted Mr Blake.

He has always maintained that a Cayman Islands national team of players might not make it to the World Cup, but a team of referees could.

“It’s a lot more feasible,” he said. “You just have to be a good referee and apply the rules of the game to the best of your ability. There’s no reason why referees here cannot be excellent FIFA referees.

“We see referees from Jamaica and other Caribbean countries at the World Cup. There’s nothing stopping Cayman referees doing the same. They just have to dedicate themselves to it.

“We are going to bring the Brac referees over to Grand Cayman once per month to referee and participate in whatever refresher course we have and they’ll also be candidates for the FIFA courses and CONCACAF (Confederation of North America and Caribbean Association of Football) when they are offered on a yearly basis,” he said.

As referees, they would be paid the standard $100 for an international game, $50 to assist in international games, and $20 to $35 for domestic games, depending on the age-group of the players.

Stephen Scott, Tony Knight, Jared Lewis, Martino Watson and Flynn Bush were given their certificates at the Brac Reef Beach Resort after a celebration lunch at the hotel.

Mr Bush said he was very pleased with the commitment of CIFA and CIRA to the Brac community. Without the Sports Association of the Sister Islands (SASI) and Sports instructor Mitchum Sanford, it would not be possible, he thought.

Mr Watson also had praise for Mr Speirs. “The way he presented the course gave us a full understanding of the laws of the game,” he said. “And he delivered it with a lot of humour. He is a very good teacher,” added Mr Watson.

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