Positions | Referees
When finishing up his thoughts on soccer and life in his master work Soccer in Sun and Shadow, Eduardo Galeano observed, “tell me how you play and I will tell you how you are.”1 This is something referees can say with a great deal of confidence about players. Stationed close to the center of the game, referees get a sense of how people deal with challenges, unfair situations, pain and other people’s sense of space and physical strategies. Charged with protecting players and the flow of the game, referees regularly anticipate when situations are normal and intervene before they fully escalate. When successful, the ref is “the invisible hand’ that allows the game to proceed. For Anthony Ndike, the charm lies in the ways, “you get to see the game from right under the fringes, watch different aspects of the game, the defense, and the counterattacks, and all the way the ball flows, and you're in the mix of it.”2 This is why, despite being in the most visible and openly challenged position in the game, referees enjoy a privileged place in the pleasures of the sport.
- Eduardo Galeano, translated by Mark Fried, Soccer in Sun and Shadow, (NY: Basic Books, 2013), kindle edition, location 2661.
- John Mckiernan-Gonzalez, ”Interview with Anthony Ndike,”Center for the Study of the Southwest, Texas State University.
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Hervee Jaar
Name: Hervee Jaar
Current Age: 43
First Played: Age 3
Years Playing: 39“When you play a side, the referee for you is always the guy you’re going against, but he’s here to sensor the game, to arbitrate the game, and it’s challenging”
Hervee Jaar, originally from Ivory Coast, is a referee in the [Insert League Here] in Austin, Texas. He recently chose to become a match official after watching his friend officiate a game and deciding he wanted to take on a new challenge. He says that being a referee has shown him a different side of soccer that he has not aware of.
Locations Played:
- Cote d’Ivoire [Ivory Coast]
- Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
- Westcott Intramural Fields | University Park, Texas
- Zilker Park | Austin, Texas
- North East Metro Park | Pflugerville, Texas
Additional Information
- John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Hervee Jaar, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (PDF File)
- John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Hervee Jaar, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, .mp4 file)
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Anthony Ndike
Name: Anthony Ndike
Age: 45
First Played: Age 6
Years Playing: 38”[Reffing] You get to see the game from right under the fringes, watch different aspects of the game, the defense, and the counterattacks, and all the way the ball flows, and you're in the mix of it.”
Anthony Ndike started playing at home, with his family. This expanded out into the streets and school. Later, much later, after college, he started taking his kids to soccer leagues and he realized he missed the game. He started playing again and becoming far more involved. Besides being a referee, he continues to play league games.
There is an intellectual side to his appreciation of the game, and reffing allows him to see far more facets of the game as it unfolds over 90 minutes.
Locations Played:
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Houston, Texas
- Georgetown, Texas
- North East Metro Park | Pflugerville, Texas
- Onion Creek Soccer Complex
Additional Information
- John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Anthony Ndike, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
- John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Anthony Ndike, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)
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Raphael
Name: Raphael
Age: 67
First Played: Age 2
Years Playing: 65“a lot of people don't understand soccer. They play, but they don't know. So I have been involved in coaching. I've been involved in playing and I am involved in reffing.”
Raphael began playing in Nigeria, at two. He has been involved in club soccer since clubs became part of the soccer scene. In Texas, Raphael has coached, managed, reffed, and played since the late 1970s, building the infrastructure that allows people to safely and consistently head out to play.
Locations Played:
- Lagos, Nigeria
- University of Texas | Austin, Texas
- Zilker Park | Austin, Texas
- IBM Soccer Fields | Austin, Texas
- Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
- Northeast Metro Park | Pflugerville, Texas
- East Metro Park | Manor, Texas
- Southeast Metro Park | Austin, Texas
Additional Information
- John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Raphael, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
- John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Raphael, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)