Canada Soccer Referee Program provides valuable experience inside the Canadian Premier League’s Island Games bubble

A group of 19 referees and assessors from Canada Soccer’s
​Referee Program were called to Prince Edward Island in August, appointed to the
​Canadian Premier League’s Island Games. The abridged second season of the country’s
​coast to coast professional league, is being hosted in Charlottetown, PEI,
​inside a bubble to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The competition’s champion
​will be granted entry in to the 2020 Canadian Championship Final with a spot in
​the 2020 Concacaf Champions League.

For many of the sixteen referees, the Island Games has
​provided an opportunity to regularly officiate top-level matches as they continue
​their development as top level referees with prestigious national and
​international appointments and standing on the Canada Soccer and FIFA List of Referees.
​A place in the bubble required each referee to self-isolate for fourteen days
​before departure and required a negative COVID-19 test before arrival.

“It
​was not easy, but as a high-level referee you often have to make those
​difficult decisions,” said Quebec’s Myriam Marcotte, the sole referee on the
​FIFA List of Officials in Charlottetown. “I was physically ready, so I only had
​to adapt a little bit my training to allow a little more game preparation, but
​other than that I was good to go. The most difficult part was to
​quarantine.”

The group of referees includes Carly Shaw-Maclaren, Filip
​Dujic, Pierre-Luc Lauzière, Myriam Marcotte, Juan Marquez, Yusri Rudolf, David
​Barrie, Mathieu Souaré, Gabrielle Lemieux, Lyes Afra, Travis Lefebvre, Stefan
​Tanaka-Freundt, Sean Hornsby, Philippe Bettez- Quessy, Jason Olinski, Michael
​Hood, assessors Joe Audi, Robert Sawtell, and Isaac Raymond, Canada Soccer’s
​Manager, Referees.

“It’s always a feeling of pride and
​accomplishment to be appointed to any game or tournament by Canada Soccer,”
​said Ontario’s Sean Hornsby. “This particular event came as a relief – soccer
​is such a huge part of my life and without having a season due to the pandemic,
​I felt a bit lost. Knowing this tournament was going
​to happen was like a breath of fresh air.”

For the members of Canada Soccer’s NEXTGEN List, Hood and
​Olinski, the Island Games provided an opportunity to receive top-level matches
​and valuable experience. As they look to make the jump to the Canada Soccer
​National List, they can see the pathway up close with NEXTGEN graduate and
​newly minted Canada Soccer List Referee Carly Shaw-Maclaren at the Island Games.

“This
​experience has allowed me to referee my first professional soccer games in such
​a short period of time,” said British Columbia’s Shaw-Maclaren. “This exposure
​has helped me gain confidence in the professional game and I will be able to
​apply this next season.”

With
​the kickoff of the four-team Group Stage on 9 September, six matches remain for
​the referees to make their mark and potentially earn an Island Games Final
​appointment on 19 September.

For information on Canada Soccer’s Referee Program including details on the National List, match appointments, profile details, media files, and more visit: migmultidev-canada-soccer.pantheonsite.io/referee.