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Every year I hear the same thing from coaches and parents - the officials are horrible.
And when they say that to me, I turn and say - there are some horrible coaches and parents.
It's so easy to pick on the officials, we all know that. With that in mind, not every official is bad. There are actually some very, very good ones.
So who are the best officials still working high school games these days?
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The absolute best official I have seen in Illinois is Sam Nachampassack, no question about it. They should get game tapes of his work and make the others watch it. On the other end of the spectrum are all of those ‘officials’ who are 30-50 pounds over weight, haven’t seen their shoes in years, wear one or two knee braces and think they can make an offsides call trailing the play by 15-20 yards. And BTW, in a 2 man system, it is OK to move more than 10 yards either side of the mid field line. I know it gets tough to waddle back the other way after a corner but at least try. In all seriousness to those fellows, if you are not fit enough to run up and down the pitch, give volleyball a try and that will get rid of some of the ‘horrible coaches and parents’, I guarantee that.
Any Referee, who works at improving their own fitness, the understanding of the law of the games and who takes the time out of their day to this job is at the top of the list.
It is not for the love of money, or the cheers (in most cases the boos) of the crowds that rewards them. It is for the love of the game. The desire to give back to sport that can be called BEAUTIFUL.
A Soccer Referee is the only professional that is expected to start out their career by being perfect. And then get better at it.
To all who have picked up a whistle, and ran the field - Thank You. Please continue to keep our children safe and allow them to play the game.
A Parent
Here they are in no particular order, but, the best of the best. Coaches, Fans,journalists, and even Joe Public who is too chicken to put on a referee uniform should all be happy if any one of these officials are on the whistle.
1) Sam Nachampassack
2) John Anderson
3) Tim Reger
4) Anthony Vasoli
5) Scott Taylor
6) John Martelin
7) Seong Ha
8) Steve Sarto
9) Greg Cole
10)The Formea brothers
IHSA Referee