Markham SC
referees
Overview
Whether it’s a U9 house league game or a League 1 Ontario match no organized soccer can happen without a referee. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario faced an unprecedented and massively consequential shortage of match officials. At the Markham Soccer Club, we have been fortunate to retain many of our Senior Club Referees from before the pandemic, and even more so to add a wealth of new talented officials. That being said, our Club is always looking to welcome new officials into its refereeing program.
All are welcome within the Markham Soccer Club Program, whether you are a current or former player, coach, or a member of the community interested in making an immense difference in sport both within the City of Markham and province wide. Officiating is a highly rewarding hobby and profession and is one that has become especially exciting as Canada increases its presence on the global soccer stage.
Aside from providing a comprehensive development program (as detailed on other pages), our program leadership is committed to achieving cultural change in generating a safe, but rewarding, developmental environment for new and experienced match officials. Given that match official abuse is a leading cause of the ongoing match official shortage, the Markham Soccer Club is actively countering it with all means available to us.
Should you have any questions – or simply would like to learn more about refereeing – please reach out to our Head Referee, Anthony Yacub at Anthony.yacub@icloud.com
Refereeing at the Markham Soccer Club
The Markham Soccer Club provides referees the opportunity to officiate across all levels of grassroots soccer. The Club organizes and runs outdoor refereed youth recreational soccer leagues from ages U9 to U18 in the spring and summer. In addition to our outdoor league programming, we organize refereed leagues during the indoor soccer season (October to March/April) to keep officials, as well as players, active. By doing so, we can accommodate the needs of all officials.
Providing referees with an understanding and friendly staffing environment is something we strive for at the Markham Soccer Club. Being flexible when it comes to assigning referees games is not only what has helped us retain referees but also to develop their officiating skills. Newer referees typically start with 7v7 matches, working their way up to 9v9 and 11v11 format games. With multiple age divisions to assign referees to, our officials have a broad range of dynamic matches at their disposal, and the experience they gain through these matches, alongside mentorship by Senior Club Referees, makes the Markham Soccer Club a community leader in referee development.
While having a wealth of matches across many age groups, alongside dedicated and driven match official development, is a key aspect of officiating at the Markham Soccer Club is the safety of officials is a major component of our refereeing program as well. We all know the line “no referee, no game,” but oftentimes coaches, players, and supporters forget as much. The Markham Soccer Club is aware of this, and to combat match official abuse we employ strong mechanisms to help deter and stop abuse before it takes place.
