March 8, 2024...Match officials reflect on their preparations for the upcoming L1ON season (from League1 Ontario website)

Match officials reflect on their preparations for the upcoming L1ON season
By League1 Ontario staff, 03/08/24, 9:30AM EST

MATCH OFFICIALS KEVIN KIM, MATTHEW HAWKINS AND GEE VIVEK, AND COACHES WHAYNE SHARP AND LOWELL WILLIAMSON, REFLECT ON THE PRESEASON TRAINING PROGRAM SO FAR.

Why do you get up on a Sunday morning and come to training all the way in London?

Hawkins: I’m committed to my craft; I love the game. Any practice I can get is extremely valuable and these sessions are very helpful to myself and other referees.

Kim: We have been able to access the resources from League1, including the coaches, instructors, and volunteers who help us get better. We definitely want to continue to learn and get better.

Vivek: Not a lot of people get this opportunity; the training that we get develops our refereeing skills and improves our fitness. Hopefully I can use this to better my craft when I referee games.

What are your current goals within refereeing, and in League1?

Kim: I’ve enjoyed being a part of League1 for a long time, and currently, my goal is for everyone to have a goal. The next steps form me should be making the step up from my current level – provincial referee – and being able to improve in the league.

Vivek: I want to be more comfortable refereeing men’s games, and get that challenge to keep officiating in League1. There’s a lot of wonderful colleagues to learn from, so getting to know how everyone referees can help me better my own style of refereeing.

Hawkins: I did a lot of AR assignments last year so, in the short term, my goal for this year is to keep moving into the middle a bit more. Becoming a FIFA-qualified referee is my long-term goal; I’ve got to put a lot of time into that and I’ll continue to work towards it.

What does it feel like coming to help out the League1 referees prepare for the 2024 season?

Williamson: Getting up early in the morning for a trip like this is really easy, because the enthusiasm and the energy from the participants makes me enthused and energized about coming out here and making them better referees.

Sharpe: It’s an easy ask. We’re laying the groundwork and the foundation for what will happen later in the season. We’re doing our preparation now ready for execution as we go along the season. We’re really thankful for the time to use the facilities and the enthusiasm from the referees has been fantastic. It’s been a really positive experience.

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