{
    "title": "Canada Soccer National Officials Day essay winners announced",
    "modified_at": "2026-05-05 14:23:15",
    "published_at": "2013-05-14 12:38:00",
    "url": "https://news.canadasoccer.com/canada-soccer-national-officials-day-essay-winners-announced",
    "short_url": "http://prez.ly/oaFd",
    "culture": "en",
    "language": "EN",
    "subtitle": "Victor Ogbechi (ON) and Etienne Boss\u00e9 (QC) as the winners of the National Officials Day essay contest.",
    "slug": "canada-soccer-national-officials-day-essay-winners-announced",
    "body": "<p>The theme of the contest was<u><strong> What Motivates Me to Officiate</strong></u>, outlining the reasons why individuals became a referee and what motivates them to continue refereeing. Essays were received from officials in seven Provinces, with youth, district, regional, provincial and national referees all submitting entries.</p><p>&ldquo;We received many creative submissions, with each essay providing honest and heartfelt insight into an official&rsquo;s motivation for refereeing&rdquo;, said Tiger Liu, Head of Refereeing, Canadian Soccer Association. &ldquo;Although every essay was different, we saw recurrent themes of camaraderie, commitment to the game and a desire to give back to the soccer community. It is evident that we have a very passionate group of officials in our country.&rdquo;</p><p>Read the winning essays:</p><p><a href=\"https://canadasoccer.com/files/Referee_VOgbechi_Essay_201305.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Victor Ogbechi</a><br>\u200b<a href=\"https://canadasoccer.com/files/Referee_EBosse_Essay_201305.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Etienne Boss&eacute;</a></p><p>Victor and Etienne will each receive an Umbro Refereeing Prize Pack, valued at $400.</p><p>The National Officials Day essay contest was launched on 17 April to celebrate National Officials Day, an initiative started by <a href=\"http://www.sportsofficials.ca/EN/index.php?action=cms.home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sports Officials Canada</a> to increase the awareness of officiating in sport and promote respect of officials.</p><div class=\"release-content-contact\" id=\"contact-8734d2d5-b892-411f-8503-dbbf51cee37d\">\n    \n    <div class=\"release-content-contact__details\">\n        <strong class=\"release-content-contact__name\">Paulo Senra</strong>\n        <em class=\"release-content-contact__description\">Chief Communications &amp; Content Officer | Chef des communications et du contenu, Canada Soccer</em>\n        <ul class=\"release-content-contact__details-list\"><li class=\"release-content-contact__details-list-item\"><a href=\"mailto:psenra@canadasoccer.com\"  class=\"release-content-contact__details-list-item-link\" title=\"psenra@canadasoccer.com\"><svg class=\"icon icon-paper-plane release-content-contact__details-list-item-icon\">\n                <use xlink:href=\"#icon-paper-plane\"></use>\n            </svg>psenra@canadasoccer.com</a></li>\n<li class=\"release-content-contact__details-list-item\"><a href=\"tel:(416)&nbsp;882-7919\"  class=\"release-content-contact__details-list-item-link\" title=\"(416)&nbsp;882-7919\"><svg class=\"icon icon-mobile release-content-contact__details-list-item-icon\">\n                <use xlink:href=\"#icon-mobile\"></use>\n            </svg>(416)&nbsp;882-7919</a></li></ul>\n    </div>\n</div>",
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    "contacts": [
        {
            "name": "Paulo Senra",
            "company": "Canada Soccer",
            "description": "Chief Communications & Content Officer | Chef des communications et du contenu",
            "email": "psenra@canadasoccer.com",
            "website": null,
            "address": null,
            "telephone": null,
            "mobile": "(416)\u00a0882-7919",
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        }
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        "first_name": "Integration",
        "last_name": "Integration"
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