Matt Swenson has been an USSF referee since 2019, mainly as a way to help out his children play the game. For him, managing the ebbs and flows of the match was better than sitting on the sidelines.

“I began refereeing in 2019 because my kids' rec league needed help and I knew coaching wasn't for me,” Swenson said. “I started with their age groups, U10 and U8, and it wasn't that difficult. I liked facilitating the game for them and other kids.”

Now an AYSO Advanced Referee, referee instructor, and regional commissioner in California, his purpose in this space has now shifted slightly.

“Without referees, there are no games. I referee to help (the) youth play soccer.”

In his six years as a referee, Matt has had his fair share of interesting moments, but none were perhaps crazier than one of his first ones, which also perfectly encapsulates the type of referee he is: stern but aware of the wider context.

“The first time I was the lead referee for a recreational level U12 game, one of the players who was subbed in had an emotional meltdown after the coach didn't assign him to the position he wanted,” Swenson said. “It involved a lot of vulgar language, mostly to the coach but also to other players and me. I treated the situation like an injury and allowed his parents to get him off the field and have someone else substituted in.”

While other referees would have pulled out their red card, Swenson took a different route, one where the players and their needs were the focus, not his actions towards them.

“I didn't show this young player a red card for his outburst because it wasn't what the players needed. Not this boy, and not his teammates or their opponents. They needed him off the field, but his coach and his parents were already working to accomplish that,” Swenson said. “One of the key principles for a referee is that we serve the players. In this case, the best way to accomplish that was to keep everyone else calm and out of the way while a problem was being solved by the right people… I included the incident in my match report, and the league administration met with the player and his family to figure out if he wanted to return for future games, and what needed to be done so he and others could again play safely.”

These types of decisions, the ones that are subjective from game to game, showcase how each referee has their personal style that is built and molded not only by themselves, but by their mistakes and by their peers.

Samuel Molloy, another USSF referee who can attest to those same ideals, had a different reason for becoming a referee in the first place.

Going into junior year (of high school), I was looking for a source of income, just a little way to make money on the side,” Molloy said. “(I) started researching just how to become a ref, and at the time I really didn't expect to become a ref because at this time I was still playing soccer, whether it's recreational or actually on my high school team or at a club.”

After going to a referee training near where he lived, Samuel felt like the difficulty wasn't that high, so he decided to give it a shot, despite not expecting much from it. 

“I never expected to be a ref, you know,” Molloy shared. “You grow up in the world of soccer to hate referees or to put a stigma on them; I think when you realize how big of a part they have in the game is when you start refereeing.”

After playing in ECNL and other regional leagues, Samuel stopped playing soccer, but he couldn’t imagine a world where soccer wouldn’t be a big part of his day-to-day life.

“Being a referee helps me to continue my passion and love for the game,” Molloy said. “But also, (it) allows me to go out every weekend and see the next generation.”

Being a referee for two years has allowed him to referee more than just the grassroots; he’s now officiating ECNL matches, the same ones he competed in just a few years ago. 

“There's always a consistent demand (for referees),” Molloy said. “So, if you take advantage of the opportunity and say ‘hey, I'm available,’ you're going to end up seeing favorability and you're going to see people reaching out to you for opportunities.”