Well it's April and school holidays for most of us, which might mean more pre-season games or a break from the competition if it's already commenced. For three officials from Football Brisbane, it meant jumping on a plane this morning and flying out to the Dallas Cup in the United States.
Adam Kersey (referee, HAL referee since 2011/12 season)
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| Picture courtesy of http://www.zimbio.com/ |
James Sherry (referee)
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| Facebook 2009 |
Victoria), and Owen Goldrick (HAL AR, Capital Football, Kanga Cup alumni)
Paul Eldridge (coach / assessor, HAL Assessor, ex-FIFA AR)
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| David Maskell 2013 |
The boys are representing Queensland at one of the biggest (in social media terms it's king) international youth tournaments. It has been become a regular positive development opportunity for Football Brisbane to support these guys who are one their way up to Elite level to have the experience of mixing with international teams and officials in a competitive atmosphere. Excellent games, high standards required and competing with FIFA referees for games, plus the mentoring component from international assessors / coaches must make this an event not to miss if you get the invitation.
Have a great time, take lots of pictures (send some early Paul, I'll post them here) and learn lots. There's nothing like tournament play to bring out your best.
Here's some fun tournaments stats
- 180 teams in 7 age categories U/13 - U19
- 47 US states and over 100 countries since its beginning in 1980
- 900 International players participate each year
- 100,000 spectators entertained on average during the week
- 1000 volunteers involved
- 4000 participants and spectators travel by air to Dallas each year
- 30 teams and 30 international referees take part in the Dallas Home Stay program with local Dallas families.
Check out the Dallas Cup site for more updates and Twitter, they have a big focus on youth development. Perhaps it's a model for Kanga Cup to follow in the years ahead, as they get a huge amount of interest from both teams and referees.
Here are some other international officials attending
UK
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/City-referee-Littlefair-lands-selection-USA/story-20848104-detail/story.html
http://www.kentfa.com/news/2014/mar/local-referee-selected-for-international-tournament
http://m.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/11076347.Watford_ref_to_represent_FA_in_America/
http://www.bromsgrovestandard.co.uk/2014/03/13/sport-Referee-to-officiate-in-USA-99578.html
http://www.northumberlandfa.com/news/2014/mar/local-referee-given-big-opportunity
Ireland
http://www.ucdsoccer.com/bank-of-ireland-superleague/latest-news/1777-from-superleague-to-dallas - updated 12/4/14
Guyana
http://www.guyanatimesgy.com/?p=57838
NZ
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/sport/9850825/Walker-to-gain-international-experience
Australian Team
Updated 12/4/14
Hot of the presses from FFA,
Joanna Charaktis (FFV), together with fellow scholarship holder Daniel Elder (SA) will attend the renowned Dallas Cup in April to gain experience from the largest international youth tournament ion the world.
This was featured in the Referees Newsletter http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/site/_content/document/00001990-source.pdf
Also of note is that for the first time a team from Australia has been invited, the Gold Coast Knights U/17
http://www.dallascup.com/home/773979.html
http://m.news-mail.com.au/news/matthew-teen-mission-usa/2225909/ - updated 10/4/14
International teams are hosted with families locally - the Knights are being accommodated by Tigres Academy http://instagram.com/p/lXA5hZqgou/
I expect there will be other Aussie teams, but the social media departments are slow in these areas when it comes to referee achievements.
Hopefully Kanga Cup referee applications will be online soon and we can start to get excited about our own international youth tournament. Keep checking the web site http://www.kangacup.com/referees for updates.
Enjoy your holidays
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