Professional Referee Organization

Last updated

Professional Referee Organization
FoundedNovember 2012;11 years ago (2012-11)
Headquarters420 Fifth Avenue
7th Floor
New York, NY 10018 [1]
Area served
 United States and Canada
Key people
Website www.proreferees.com

Professional Referee Organization (PRO) is the organization responsible for managing the referee and assistant referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada, working alongside the United States Soccer Federation, Major League Soccer, the Canadian Soccer Association, the United Soccer League, the National Women's Soccer League, and the U.S. Open Cup.

Contents

The organization's targets are to increase the quality of officiating in U.S. and Canadian professional leagues, develop more professional-quality officials at a younger age, and produce officials who will represent the United States and Canada in FIFA competitions. [3] The referees employed by PRO are represented by the PSRA. [4]

History

The U.S. Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer joined forces in 2012 to create the Professional Referee Organization and the aims for PRO is to develop a higher standard of officiating at a younger age and to produce referees who can represent the United States and Canada in FIFA competitions.

Then U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said, "We've always understood that the development of referees is an important aspect to the growth of the game in the United States. PRO is another step toward the improvement and professionalization of our top referees. With the additional resources and funding provided by the formation of PRO, we will continue to build upon the progress we've already made." [5]

Staff

EmployeeTitle [6]
Mark Geiger General Manager
Nick PrimaveraChief Operating Officer
John LoderDirector of Finance and Accounting
Joe Fletcher Chief Refereeing Officer
Sarah BettisonManager of Human Resources and Planning
Yolanda SamuelExecutive Assistant
Dax AlmazanManager of Payroll and Accounting
Sandro Ricci Director of Senior Match Officials
Frank AndersonManager of Senior Assistant Referees
Greg BarkeyManager of Video Review
Alan BlackDirector of Technical Programs
Alex PrusDirector of PRO2 Match Officials
Mark KadlecikPRO2 Referee Coach
Erich SimmonsPRO2 Referee Coach
Tom BeckvermitDirector of Sports Performance
Lisa StalansHead of Sports Medicine
John WestbrooksHead Sports Performance Coach
Nicole WardDirector of Operations
Amy EdwardsManager of Tactical and Video Analysis
Leisha Alcia Operations Coordinator
Diane JohnsonManager of Travel

Major League Soccer awards

Season [7] RefereeAssistant Referee
2012 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Silviu Petrescu Flag of the United States.svg Ian Anderson
2013 Flag of the United States.svg Hilario Grajeda Flag of the United States.svg Kermit Quisenberry
2014 Flag of the United States.svg Mark Geiger Flag of the United States.svg Paul Scott
2015 Flag of Ireland.svg Alan Kelly Flag of the United States.svg Corey Parker
2016 Flag of the United States.svg Frank Anderson
2017 Flag of the United States.svg Allen Chapman Flag of the United States.svg Corey Parker
2018 Flag of Ireland.svg Alan Kelly Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Joe Fletcher
2019 Flag of the United States.svg Allen Chapman Flag of the United States.svg Brian Dunn
2020 Flag of the United States.svg Ismail Elfath Flag of the United States.svg Kathryn Nesbitt
2021 Flag of Poland.svg / Flag of the United States.svg Robert Sibiga Flag of the United States.svg Cory Richardson
2022 Flag of the United States.svg Ismail Elfath Flag of the United States.svg Corey Rockwell
2023 Flag of the United States.svg Victor Rivas Flag of the United States.svg Ian McKay

USL Championship awards

Season [8] RefereeAssistant Referee
2019 Flag of the United States.svg Guido Gonzales Jr. Flag of the United States.svg Ian McKay
2020 Flag of the United States.svg Elton Garcia Flag of the United States.svg Diego Blas
2021 Flag of the United States.svg Matt Thompson Flag of the United States.svg Mike Nickerson
2022 Flag of the United States.svg Mark Allatin Flag of the United States.svg Kali Smith
2023 Flag of the United States.svg Calin Radosav Flag of France.svg Christian Clerc

Roster

Ahead of the 2024 MLS season, these match officials were listed on the PRO rosters.

Referees [9]

Assistant referees [10]

  • Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lyes Arfa
  • Flag of the United States.svg Kyle Atkins
  • Flag of the United States.svg Claudiu Badea
  • Flag of the United States.svg Peter Balciunas
  • Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Micheal Barwegen
  • Flag of the United States.svg Andrew Bigelow
  • Flag of the United States.svg Cameron Blanchard
  • Flag of the United States.svg Diego Blas
  • Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Chantal Boudreau
  • Flag of the United States.svg Logan Brown
  • Flag of the United States.svg Jose da Silva
  • Flag of the United States.svg Brian Dunn
  • Flag of the United States.svg Chris Elliott
  • Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gianni Facchini
  • Flag of the United States.svg Adam Garner
  • Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Graves
  • Flag of the United States.svg Jeffrey Greeson
  • Flag of the United States.svg Jeremy Hanson
  • Flag of the United States.svg Walt Heatherly
  • Flag of the United States.svg Justin Howard
  • Flag of the United States.svg Eduardo Jeff
  • Flag of the United States.svg Jeremy Kieso
  • Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Klinger
  • Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Lock
  • Flag of the United States.svg Felisha Mariscal
  • Flag of the United States.svg Brooke Mayo
  • Flag of the United States.svg Ian McKay
  • Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
  • Flag of the United States.svg Meghan Mullen
  • Flag of the United States.svg Matt Nelson
  • Flag of the United States.svg Kathryn Nesbitt
  • Flag of the United States.svg Corey Parker
  • Flag of the United States.svg Ben Pilgrim
  • Flag of the United States.svg Brian Poeschel
  • Flag of the United States.svg Cory Richardson
  • Flag of the United States.svg Corey Rockwell
  • Flag of the United States.svg Mike Rottersman
  • Flag of the United States.svg Kali Smith
  • Flag of the United States.svg Jeffrey Swartzel
  • Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Stefan Tanaka-Freundt
  • Flag of the United States.svg Nick Uranga
  • Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Chris Wattam
  • Flag of the United States.svg Eric Weisbrod
  • Flag of the United States.svg Jason White
  • Flag of the United States.svg Adam Wienckowski
  • Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Wyrostek

Video assistant referees [11]

Assistant video assistant referees [12]

  • Flag of the United States.svg Jozef Batko
  • Flag of the United States.svg Jonathan Johnson
  • Flag of the United States.svg Mike Kampmeinert
  • Flag of the United States.svg Craig Lowry
  • Flag of the United States.svg Jeffrey Muschik
  • Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Rene Parra
  • Flag of the United States.svg Josh Patlak
  • Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Robert Schaap
  • Flag of the United States.svg Thomas Supple
  • Flag of the United States.svg Fabio Tovar
  • Flag of the United States.svg TJ Zablocki

International roster

As of January 2024, these PRO officials' were listed on the international roster: [13]

International appointments

In December 2018, Jair Marrufo as referee, Frank Anderson and Corey Rockwell as assistant referees, and Mark Geiger as an assistant video assistant referee, were selected to oversee the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup final. [14]

In August 2023, six PRO officials were appointed to the FIFA Women's World Cup final—three on-field and three video officials. Tori Penso was chosen to adjudicate the final, alongside assistant referees Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt. Also chosen were Support VAR Armando Villarreal, Standby VAR Carol Anne Chenard, and Standby AVAR Drew Fischer. [15]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Headquarters". Professional Referee Organization.
  2. ↑ "Support Staff". Professional Referee Organization.
  3. ↑ "About PRO". Professional Referee Organization.
  4. ↑ "About PSRA". Professional Referee Organization.
  5. ↑ Avi C. (6 March 2012). "U.S. Soccer, MLS create new referee program". SBI Soccer.
  6. ↑ "Support Staff".
  7. ↑ "MLS Awards Roll of Honor".
  8. ↑ "USL Awards Roll of Honor".
  9. ↑ "Referees".
  10. ↑ "Assistant Referees".
  11. ↑ "Video Assistant Referees".
  12. ↑ "Assistant Video Assistant Referees".
  13. ↑ "FIFA International List of Match Officials".
  14. ↑ "PRO officials selected to oversee FIFA Club World Cup Final". Professional Referee Organization. 21 December 2018.
  15. ↑ "Tori Penso to referee 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Final".
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