Amelia Aris
Whether she’s refereeing or performing the role of an Assistant Referee, this year’s award winner consistently exemplifies the attributes of always wanting to perform at her best and consistently brings a great attitude to the field.
She started playing soccer for Bays United when she was 4 years old and currently plays for Wave where she has been for the last few years. In 2019 she started her officiating career by refereeing Small Sided games and providing AR services in full field games for both Lakehill and Gorge. In 2022 she attained her full field certification and immediately started reffing Tier 3/4 full field games for the lower island. Recently she was invited not only to officiate at both the A and B cup provincial finals and but also to run a line in some of the women’s league cup finals. She is currently entering grade 12 at Reynolds and then wants to further her education by attending university. She is interested in studying sports management with a potential future in and around sport, with the goal of elevating women in sport through officiating, coaching and playing.
In addition to having a great attitude, she is punctual; prepared; positive; confident and always strives to ensure that games are conducted with integrity and fair play. All attributes a quality referee must possess.
Her selection as female referee of the year was not solely based on my selection. I received feedback from many clubs that she would be the ideal choice for this award.
Soccer needs more female official’s and this referee certainly has the potential to take her officiating to whatever level she desires.
It gives me great pleasure to announce that this year’s winner of the LISA “Female Referee of the Year” award goes to Amelia Aris!
Avner Dachsel Kerr
This year’s award winner started refereeing at the age of twelve years old. His original reasoning for becoming a referee was to become more involved in the game he loves.
Locally he has officiated in the LISA District Cup finals and for his home club in Tier2/3 competitions.
He has been playing soccer since he was six years old. He currently plays for the u16 T2 team and loves the game immensely. He’s always been observant and grounded, so refereeing was a great fit for him. Thanks to the referee not showing up to a Men’s VISL game earlier in the season he got to referee his first adult game and, coincidently, give out his first red card for Serious Foul Play. This in turn led him to AR his first university match in March. He hopes to officiate at the professional level at some point. He is on the BCSA radar screen as a young referee with tremendous potential. He hopes to officiate at the professional level at some point.
He is a grade ten honour roll student at Vic High where he plays clarinet in the school band. He enjoys music, films, spending time with friends, and watching soccer.
Refereeing can sometimes be referred to as “the school of hard knocks” but he is serious about his craft as demonstrated by the fact that he see’s each game as an opportunity to improve. It’s an immense responsibility to officiate a match and he takes great pride in his work.
More recently, he was invited to referee at both the A and B Cup provincials, but was only able to officiate the B Cup because his Tier 2 team was competing in the A Cup. During the B Cup, he was in the middle for two games and AR’d six others, including the U15 Boys gold medal match. One of his teammates asked him why he likes to referee and he said that he loves the game, likes to be a part of it, and wants it to be a fair experience for everyone on the field.
I’m not hoping that this years award winner will accomplish great things as a referee… we’re expecting it !
It is my privilege and honour to recognize Avner Dachsel Kerr as the Lower Island Soccer Associations “Male Referee of the Year”!
