During a weekend in October, Kristal Lowe, the JDF Director of Referees, promoted a “women in sport” initiative. It was arranged that all the super 8 girls games would be played on one field with female referees, assistant referees and mentors all in attendance. It was a great opportunity to showcase their youth female referees, assistant referees and mentors. Kristal would like to thank this group of female officials for their effort and commitment to reffing every weekend with JDF Soccer. A special shout out to Emma Sparrow and Lucy Haigh, a few of there mentors, who work tirelessly with all their young referees to help them grow and develop into the best they can be!
From left to right here is a brief bio about each referee/mentor:
Lucy Haigh – Lucy started reffing small sided games in 2018. She really enjoyed it so decided to take the full field course as soon as she could. This season Lucy started mentoring the younger new referees at JDF which she is also enjoying. Reffing and mentoring have allowed Lucy to enjoy the game in a different way and she looks forward to seeing what comes next!
Amy Ratz – Referee
Petra Powell – Petra began refereeing for JDF Soccer Association in 2019 at 12 years old. She has spent the last few years reffing both boys and girls in super 8 games. In early 2022 she became a full field referee. She has just started to perform the duties of an assistant referee for older age groups. Petra has played soccer for more than 10 years and is currently playing for the JDF U16 team. Outside of soccer, Petra is interested in cars and mechanics, and is in the middle of restoring a car with her dad.
Genevieve Bacon – Genny has been a member of JDF Soccer for 9 years. She enjoys the competitive nature of soccer, as well as the friendships she has made along the way. Reffing on Saturday mornings is a highlight of her weekend as she gets to work with young up and coming referee’s and players.
Laney Stewart – Laney started refereeing small sided games when she turned 12 and has refereed all levels of super 8. She has taken her full field course and is moving up to become an assistant referee for the older age groups. Laney has played soccer since she was 3 and now plays on the JDF U16 Tier 3 team.
Maia Fitzsimmons – Maia Fitzsimmons began refereeing as a U6/U7 JDF house program referee in the fall of 2021. She quickly moved from reffing U7-U8 mini’s house program to reffing U10 boys and girls. This fall Maia began reffing and assistant reffing super-8 teams. Last spring Maia began coaching youth within the JDF organization and this has quickly become a passion of hers.
Kyara Joseph – Kyara started reffing 4 years ago with the U6 division. She has steadily moved up and completed her full field certification. She currently refs at the U12 level but has also been an assistant referee for Wave, Tier 2 and women’s games. She is happy to give pointers to newer refs whether she’s being an A/R or having them A/R for her. Kyara is involved in soccer 6-7 days a week whether it be school academy, her regular soccer team or reffing/A/R’ing. Outside of school, Kyara is interested in doing something animal related, possibly marine biology.
Emma Sparrow – Emma started reffing in 2019 shortly after attending the small sided clinic. She slowly worked her way up until she was reffing u13 games and then took the full field reffing course. She is really enjoying spending more time in the soccer community and working with the club where her soccer journey all started. After taking her full field course she started out as an assistant referee in full field games. In 2021 she began reffing full field games in the middle for both boys and girls. In 2022 she continued officiating full field games at all levels and also began mentoring the younger referees to help them become the best they can be. Emma is excited to see what 2023 has to offer in her officiating journey.
Congratulations to Lucy, Amy, Petra, Genevieve, Laney, Maia, Kyara and Emma for being selected as the LISA Referee’s of the Month!
