SoccerRef wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

SoccerRef wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

SoccerRef wrote:Here's how to climb the ladder:

Start your path to upgrade to regional ref as soon as posible. Getting to that level will open more doors, first at State Cups, and then at big tournaments. MLS Next national tournaments are where you really need to end up to be really noticed.

Take any mentoring opportunity you can get along the way...any big tournament should have some.

Obviously, on a week to week basis, ref the highest levels you can. Even as a grasroots ref, you should be able to get MLS Next assignments.

And for the person asking if it's possible to do this full time...only if you're a top level national ref hired by PRO, the USSF Pro Ref Organization. And even among the 100 or so PRO refs, only about 30 are full time.

DH is in his mid 30s, says he’ll grind like hell to reach PRO before he turns 45. Is he daydreaming or should I be supportive despite the fact I’m lonely at home?

For reaching PRO? I'm sorry, but unless he's already a National Referee, he's daydreaming. They focus on developing younger referees, so they can have longer careers at the top.

No exceptions if talent is there?

Look, I'm never going to say that he has zero chance, but it's as close as it gets to that, no matter how good he is.
Again, what level is he at now? Regional at least? You have to be a Regional Ref for at least two years before they'll even consider someone for National.
It's HARD getting to National Ref level these days. Back when I started, they were a dime a dozen, then they changed the program to only move the best and most promising refs up to National. There are lots of ref that apply, and they're selcted based on both talent and potential. There are plenty of fantastic 20-somethings trying to get to that level, and it makes more sense to bring those ref up, so by the time they make it to PRO, they're still young enough to have a decade or more on top.

SoccerRef wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

SoccerRef wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

SoccerRef wrote:Here's how to climb the ladder:

Start your path to upgrade to regional ref as soon as posible. Getting to that level will open more doors, first at State Cups, and then at big tournaments. MLS Next national tournaments are where you really need to end up to be really noticed.

Take any mentoring opportunity you can get along the way...any big tournament should have some.

Obviously, on a week to week basis, ref the highest levels you can. Even as a grasroots ref, you should be able to get MLS Next assignments.

And for the person asking if it's possible to do this full time...only if you're a top level national ref hired by PRO, the USSF Pro Ref Organization. And even among the 100 or so PRO refs, only about 30 are full time.

DH is in his mid 30s, says he’ll grind like hell to reach PRO before he turns 45. Is he daydreaming or should I be supportive despite the fact I’m lonely at home?

For reaching PRO? I'm sorry, but unless he's already a National Referee, he's daydreaming. They focus on developing younger referees, so they can have longer careers at the top.

No exceptions if talent is there?

Look, I'm never going to say that he has zero chance, but it's as close as it gets to that, no matter how good he is.
Again, what level is he at now? Regional at least? You have to be a Regional Ref for at least two years before they'll even consider someone for National.
It's HARD getting to National Ref level these days. Back when I started, they were a dime a dozen, then they changed the program to only move the best and most promising refs up to National. There are lots of ref that apply, and they're selcted based on both talent and potential. There are plenty of fantastic 20-somethings trying to get to that level, and it makes more sense to bring those ref up, so by the time they make it to PRO, they're still young enough to have a decade or more on top.

Anonymous wrote:

SoccerRef wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

SoccerRef wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

SoccerRef wrote:Here's how to climb the ladder:

Start your path to upgrade to regional ref as soon as posible. Getting to that level will open more doors, first at State Cups, and then at big tournaments. MLS Next national tournaments are where you really need to end up to be really noticed.

Take any mentoring opportunity you can get along the way...any big tournament should have some.

Obviously, on a week to week basis, ref the highest levels you can. Even as a grasroots ref, you should be able to get MLS Next assignments.

And for the person asking if it's possible to do this full time...only if you're a top level national ref hired by PRO, the USSF Pro Ref Organization. And even among the 100 or so PRO refs, only about 30 are full time.

DH is in his mid 30s, says he’ll grind like hell to reach PRO before he turns 45. Is he daydreaming or should I be supportive despite the fact I’m lonely at home?

For reaching PRO? I'm sorry, but unless he's already a National Referee, he's daydreaming. They focus on developing younger referees, so they can have longer careers at the top.

No exceptions if talent is there?

Look, I'm never going to say that he has zero chance, but it's as close as it gets to that, no matter how good he is.
Again, what level is he at now? Regional at least? You have to be a Regional Ref for at least two years before they'll even consider someone for National.
It's HARD getting to National Ref level these days. Back when I started, they were a dime a dozen, then they changed the program to only move the best and most promising refs up to National. There are lots of ref that apply, and they're selcted based on both talent and potential. There are plenty of fantastic 20-somethings trying to get to that level, and it makes more sense to bring those ref up, so by the time they make it to PRO, they're still young enough to have a decade or more on top.

Nansense. Ismail Elfath, Moroccan born, 41 years of age. MLS next pro debut last year. If you got it you got it. More than ever it’s now easier to rise above so much mediocrity and incompetent.