Dallas Awaits!

I thought it would be a good idea to pick this blog back up where I left it in July, since the CDSRA was quite keen on having Sunny, Sebastian, and myself write about our experiences at the world's biggest youth tournament - the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup!



First off, it's an incredible honor to be sent on behalf of Alberta Soccer, and Canada Soccer as well. I can't thank the RDC enough for this amazing opportunity to be spent alongside my peers.


Since I wrote in this blog last..... I have seen the field on 2 IberCup Europe Finals (Portugal and Spain), met Mark Clattenburg in person, assistant refereed the Challenge Cup Final, refereed the ACAC Provincial Final, refereed the Men's National Championship Quarter Final and assisted the Semi-Final, and assisted on a game involving Whitecaps FC Reserves. It's been quite the whirlwind of a year, but obviously incredibly successful.

I can't thank enough the various instructors and assessors instrumental to my successes this past year, and the years prior. To not risk leaving any of them out, I won't name specific people. But they all know who they are and I am continuously grateful for the sacrifices they make to prepare us properly for these massive opportunities. It's been a long road so far, but they pave the way to make it as simple as possible.

Now, onto Dallas.

While not necessarily the "biggest" tournament in terms of number of teams (I believe that honor goes to the Schwann's USA Cup in Minnesota), this tournament attracts some of the largest clubs and their youth academies on a regular basis - earning it the "best and biggest" moniker.

Our local referee development directors have been helping myself and my peers get physically ready for this tournament. We took a couple of weeks off after the outdoor season ended in November (brrr....) but it was right back to training right before Christmas time. We've been going hard with our various plans, as our fitness needed to be at peak levels a few weeks ahead of normal schedule (last weeks of April, normally).

In terms of refereeing quality, this tournament is a who's who of big names. Some of the best referees from Canada, the USA, Bahamas, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, England, the Netherlands....... and of those, many have worked in FIFA games, Major League Soccer, and the World Cup! Not only that, some of those country's top assessors will make the trip out to offer their advice and run clinics for us to soak up all the valuable information they have to offer. Quite the opportunity.

The tournament participants also include a who's who of youth academies. In the Super Groups, the teams include Birmingham City (English Championship), Tigres (Mexico Primera), Eintracht Frankfurt (German Bundesliga), San Jose Earthquakes (MLS), Fulham FC (English Championship),  the USA U20 National Team, TSG Hoffenheim (German Bundesliga), Everton FC (English Premier League), Fluminense (Brazil Premier League), Real Salt Lake (MLS), Middlesborough FC (English Championship), and FC Dallas (MLS). An absolute cracker of a lineup they have for us.

I leave tomorrow (gasp!) at 12pm - flying into Edmonton first, then to Denver, then onward to Dallas, arriving late in the evening. Here's hoping for a smooth transition through all of the airports. At worst, you pack your essentials (shoes, jerseys) in your carry-on, just in case.

Now, as for scheduling, there's no guarantee that I will see the field in any games involving the big name teams I mentioned. We find out our appointments for Sunday through to Wednesday upon check-in Friday evening. However, the goal is to do as well as I can, and hopefully be around for appointments in the championship rounds on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the 27th. I am absolutely ecstatic to get started and keep everyone posted on my journey and that of my fellow referees.

Hopefully my fellow Calgarian (and Edmontonian) referees can contribute a little bit to this blog. We shall see. If you could wish us all -  Brad, Gio, Lance, Sunny, Kurtis, myself, and Sebastian - good luck, it would be very appreciated!

Most of us will be away from Friday the 18th until Monday the 28th. What an incredible 10 days (and I get to miss some school...... seriously, what a great week!)

Till next day.

Mike

Tournament Day 2- Trip Day 8

Costa Del Sol Tournament Day 2 - Trip Day 8

It's crazy looking back when you're in the middle of an occasion you've been waiting for for so long. At times, this trip was the "motivation" to work hard and power through tough times at home. 

Now, I'm 8 days in, with 14 days remaining - not even halfway yet! Crazy how much I've actually packed into these 8 days. Thousands of kilometres, 4 different languages, and all types of weather - but mostly beautiful and sunny. The beaches here in Malaga/Marbella/Estepona are simply amazing - and I've gotten a great tan in 8 days here so far. 

I've been blessed with many unique opportunities this trip. I mentioned the opportunity to pick up Mark Clattenburg (FIFA and Premier League referee, Olympic Gold Final 2012, and Europa League Final) from the airport - it was an honour to spend an hour with him and soak up as much information as possible. 

Today, I was given another awesome opportunity to work with top level referees. Peter Bednar - a Slovakian National List assistant referee who works in the Slovak Premier League - was my assistant for a game I was 4th official on this morning. The other assistant on that game was Adrian Holmes - a National List referee from England who works Premier League games regularly. Great sense of humour he has.... One of the younger referees asked him where he got his shirt with the Premier League badge stitched into it. Without blinking, he dead panned: "I collected 20 cereal box tops and sent them in with my address attached." Classic Englishman.  

For all my friends and family who don't know the significance of working with these specific referees - Adrian does games involving Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Everton. Mark Clattenburg is considered one of (if not the ) best and most respected referees in England and UEFA (Europe). 

I couldn't have dreamed of a greater opportunity - but it gets better. 

Tomorrow - I have been assigned to referee in the middle a match involving Sevilla CF U15's (Spanish La Liga top division pro academy) and a top level local Academy - CDAD Pablo Picasso. I hope it's a good match - I plan to do my part. 

That's not all. 

After that game - the tournament has assigned me to be on the line (Assistant referee) with Mark Clattenburg himself as my middle referee! Oh. My. Gosh. The game will be Valencia U15's vs. UD San Pedro - which is apparently the local side. What a match! 

Still in shock.  Can't believe it. #blessed

I can't wait for what tomorrow brings. At the very least, I'll get a picture to appease the requests of my main mentors back home, Rob Urquhart. He's quite the fan of Mark. 😉

Anyways - I have to get some sleep so I "don't suck" tomorrow. (Whatever you do Mike, don't suck). Thanks guys......

Mike 

Vacation Recap and Tournament Costa Del Sol Day 1

Well - I apologize in advance for letting this blog slip a bit - although I'm not sure if the target audience wants to hear about how I climbed the Rock of Gibraltar, or visited the dressing rooms at Barcelona's Camp Nou, or missed my train in Paris, or got stopped at the border in London because the guards thought my referee ball pump was a weapon.

I also probably shouldn't talk about how Brad and I were given the privilege of driving an hour into Malaga today to pick up one of the best referees in the world - Mark Clattenburg.

All of the above happened before my first game even kicked off today - Valencia U15's vs Skoppen IF U15 ( Valencia won 21-0 by the way, yes......... 21-0).

Brad and I enjoyed the last few days in Barca before making our way to Malaga via train. We were then given a free day yesterday - which allowed us to rent a car and drive to Gibraltar! Cross one off the bucket list - it was a clear enough day that we were able to see Morocco across the Strait! Wowza.

Due to a mixup at the tournament HQ - and due to the fact that Brad and I had rented a car, the torunament asked us if we could personally pick up one of the biggest Premier League and FIFA officials in the world - Mark Clattenburg from the Malaga Airport today. We were honoured - and it was a really great one hour spent one on one picking his brain and having him tell stories about his Champions League refereeing and life outside of it!

Down to business though. My first game was assigned at the Munoz Perez stadium - Valencia vs. Skoppen IF as mentioned above. I only called one foul (a penalty nonetheless) as Valencia literally decimated their opponents from top to bottom. Quite the eye opener - the difference between a professional La Liga academy and a non professional team was crazy. I had the privilege of working with an all-Italian crew today - in Italy they train referees to be either middle referees or Assistants right from the start - so my assistants today actually had quite little experience on the line. Different from Canada where we are trained to do both well throughout our development path. They also have distinct styles different from us in how they signal - an Italian flair if you will.

All in all a good start - no fights, no one dropped dead from the heat today ( it was 37C in the shade ).

Can't believe I've been over here 8 days already - 16 left! Wow.

Mike

5. More. Sleeps

Holy Moly!

5 more sleeps until I set off on the biggest journey of my life, to date!

It's been a whirlwind, full of ups and downs. Tons of planning, rescheduling, re-budgeting, revising, and just generally requiring a lot of patience!

I've learned a ton about myself in preparation for this trip.

For one, I can't pack 12 pairs of shorts and 15 T-shirts because airlines in Europe get super sticky about extra luggage.

Another thing. Who knew that exchanging money is and would be such a hassle? Fees here, exchange rates there, etc......Does my debit card work in Europe? Does my Visa card work? Will my new Visa card come in the mail in time? Phoning banks to let them know I will be spending my money in Europe. The list goes on! All I want is that I just want my money to be changed into a different kind of money, and for my money to be available to me!

Planning the trip has been a real blast though. My itinerary is wide open at the start, with the only "for sures" being flying into London Monday to Tuesday, overnighting there, then taking the train Wednesday from London to Barcelona.

From there, Thursday to Sunday the 21st, I will be in Barcelona in a Sant Jordi Hostel for 4 nights, until I meet up with my travelling partner/ referee compatriot Brad Tannahill, where we will be taking the high speed train to Malaga to meet up with the IberCup staff for the Costa Del Sol tournament.

Barcelona is wide open. I definitely plan to see the Nou Camp, but after that I have no idea what to do. I think my best bet is to make some friends with the hostel staff and ask them what's good around town.

I also hope I can conquer the jet lag pretty quick. Hence the overnight flight and the arrival 6 days before. I want to make sure I'm in tip-top shape for performing during my games at the tournament!


Well, I have to go keep packing and pre-shopping. Hopefully I will be able to write one more post before I head off on the trip.

A special thanks to my 3 gracious donors - Grandma, Tim Taylor, and Keith Coulson. They donated a generous amount of money to my trip, and without their extreme generosity I wouldn't have been able to go on this experience.


No foul red card.

Mike Stacey

The Journey Begins

Hey Everyone!

This is the first post of many that will be detailing my journey to two prestigious international tournaments - the IberCup Costa Del Sol, and the IberCup Estoril.

These two tournaments will be occurring June 22-28, and June 30 - July 5, 2015 respectively.


A little bit of background on myself.

I am a recently-retired central defender for Mount Royal University in CIS, having played 3 years of CIS soccer after having graduated from the Calgary Foothills Soccer Club and Calgary Blizzard Soccer clubs in U18 Tier 1 youth soccer, through the Calgary Minor Soccer Association.

I began officiating in 2009 upon the (gentle) prodding of my mother - I initially resisted fiercely, thinking that refereeing was a terrible alternative. I also believed that all referees were out to get me, and I couldn't understand why it was so difficult to make all of the correct decisions 100% of the time in a game. I mean, I could do it as a player, why couldn't the referees? In hindsight, I sure am glad I stuck with it.


In 2010 I was invited to participate in the Alberta Major Soccer League referee pre-season development camp, and it was here that I was introduced to my first experiences as an Assistant Referee, having only done middle assignments (main Referee) at the U14 Community age groups and below.

In 2011 I applied to upgrade to "Regional" - level, and was unsuccessful in my first attempt upon the review of the Alberta Soccer Referee Development Committee in December of 2011. I was, however, invited to officiate at the Canadian Soccer Association National Club Championships for U16 in Lethbridge - October 2011. It was here that I got my first taste of elite level competition, and I was awarded both Gold Medal Championship games as the assistant referee for boys and girls.

I utilized these experiences to drive farther and higher as a referee, and in 2012 I was selected to officiate in my first ever Alberta Major League men's middle - Lethbridge FC vs. Drillers. I was also selected to officiate in the Provincial Championships for both Senior and Youth Tier 1 (to Nationals). I also achieved my Regional Upgrade in December of 2012.

2013 was a big year for me. I was in my first season as a Regional-level referee, and I was awarded the U14 Boys Provincial Gold Final after an exciting weekend at Tier 1 Youth Provincials, where the winner advanced to Nationals to represent Alberta. I was then selected to be the assistant referee on the Alberta Major League Men's Gold Medal Final the following weekend, and in October 2013 I was selected to my 2nd National Championships, the U14 Nationals, held once again in Lethbridge.


It was April 2014 when I received the news that I had been nominated on behalf of Alberta to attend the (National Centralized) Provincial Referee upgrade course, held in Ottawa, Ontario in May 2014. This course is the opportunity for potential future National List referees to be seen by members of the National Referee Development Committee in one big group, and it was an experience I will never forget. I learned valuable tools and information in the 2 days I spent in Ottawa, and I used that new-found knowledge to achieve a successful Youth and Senior Provincial Championship in August 2014. I was awarded the Jubilee Shield Final (Women's Major League) (as the middle referee), and the Boys U16 Gold Medal Final as the middle referee - two of the largest appointments for a referee in the entire province. I was then invited to my 3rd National Championship - the 2014 Women's College National Championship held in Medicine Hat, Alberta in November 2014.

In December 2014 I was awarded my Provincial Upgrade, after successfully completing ongoing assessments and resume review by the Referee Development Committee through the 2014 summer and fall months of the season.

In my next blog post, I will detail the two IberCup's I am planning to attend, and I will discuss further my goals and aspirations as a soccer referee moving forward.