Wikipedia

Professional Referee Organization

Professional Referee Organization (PRO) is the organization responsible for managing the referee and assistant referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada, working alongside the United States Soccer Federation, Major League Soccer, the Canadian Soccer Association, the United Soccer League, the National Women's Soccer League, and the U.S. Open Cup.

Professional Referee Organization
FoundedNovember 2012; 11 years ago (2012-11)
Headquarters420 Fifth Avenue
7th Floor
New York, NY 10018[1]
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
Websitewww.proreferees.com

The organization's targets are to increase the quality of officiating in U.S. and Canadian professional leagues, develop more professional-quality officials at a younger age, and produce officials who will represent the United States and Canada in FIFA competitions.[3] The referees employed by PRO are represented by the PSRA.[4]

History edit

The U.S. Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer joined forces in 2012 to create the Professional Referee Organization and the aims for PRO is to develop a higher standard of officiating at a younger age and to produce referees who can represent the United States and Canada in FIFA competitions.

Then U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said, "We've always understood that the development of referees is an important aspect to the growth of the game in the United States. PRO is another step toward the improvement and professionalization of our top referees. With the additional resources and funding provided by the formation of PRO, we will continue to build upon the progress we've already made."[5]

Staff edit

Employee Title[6]
Mark Geiger General Manager
Nick Primavera Chief Operating Officer
John Loder Director of Finance and Accounting
Joe Fletcher Chief Refereeing Officer
Sarah Bettison Manager of Human Resources and Planning
Yolanda Samuel Executive Assistant
Dax Almazan Manager of Payroll and Accounting
Sandro Ricci Director of Senior Match Officials
Frank Anderson Manager of Senior Assistant Referees
Greg Barkey Manager of Video Review
Alan Black Director of Technical Programs
Alex Prus Director of PRO2 Match Officials
Mark Kadlecik PRO2 Referee Coach
Erich Simmons PRO2 Referee Coach
Tom Beckvermit Director of Sports Performance
Lisa Stalans Head of Sports Medicine
John Westbrooks Head Sports Performance Coach
Nicole Ward Director of Operations
Amy Edwards Manager of Tactical and Video Analysis
Leisha Alcia Operations Coordinator
Diane Johnson Manager of Travel

Major League Soccer awards edit

For a list of recipients before PRO's creation in 2012, see MLS Referee of the Year Award.
Season[7] Referee Assistant Referee
2012   Silviu Petrescu   Ian Anderson
2013   Hilario Grajeda   Kermit Quisenberry
2014   Mark Geiger   Paul Scott
2015   Alan Kelly   Corey Parker
2016   Frank Anderson
2017   Allen Chapman   Corey Parker
2018   Alan Kelly   Joe Fletcher
2019   Allen Chapman   Brian Dunn
2020   Ismail Elfath   Kathryn Nesbitt
2021  /  Robert Sibiga   Cory Richardson
2022   Ismail Elfath   Corey Rockwell
2023   Victor Rivas   Ian McKay

USL Championship awards edit

Season[8] Referee Assistant Referee
2019   Guido Gonzales Jr.   Ian McKay
2020   Elton Garcia   Diego Blas
2021   Matt Thompson   Mike Nickerson
2022   Mark Allatin   Kali Smith
2023   Calin Radosav   Christian Clerc

Roster edit

Ahead of the 2024 MLS season, these match officials were listed on the PRO rosters.

Referees[9] edit

Assistant referees[10] edit

  •   Lyes Arfa
  •   Kyle Atkins
  •   Claudiu Badea
  •   Peter Balciunas
  •   Micheal Barwegen
  •   Andrew Bigelow
  •   Cameron Blanchard
  •   Diego Blas
  •   Chantal Boudreau
  •   Logan Brown
  •   Jose da Silva
  •   Brian Dunn
  •   Chris Elliott
  •   Gianni Facchini
  •   Adam Garner
  •   Ryan Graves
  •   Jeffrey Greeson
  •   Jeremy Hanson
  •   Walt Heatherly
  •   Justin Howard
  •   Eduardo Jeff
  •   Jeremy Kieso
  •   Kevin Klinger
  •   Kevin Lock
  •   Felisha Mariscal
  •   Brooke Mayo
  •   Ian McKay
  •   Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
  •   Meghan Mullen
  •   Matt Nelson
  •   Kathryn Nesbitt
  •   Corey Parker
  •   Ben Pilgrim
  •   Brian Poeschel
  •   Cory Richardson
  •   Corey Rockwell
  •   Mike Rottersman
  •   Kali Smith
  •   Jeffrey Swartzel
  •   Stefan Tanaka-Freundt
  •   Nick Uranga
  •   Chris Wattam
  •   Eric Weisbrod
  •   Jason White
  •   Adam Wienckowski
  •   Tyler Wyrostek

Video assistant referees[11] edit

Assistant video assistant referees[12] edit

  •   Jozef Batko
  •   Jonathan Johnson
  •   Mike Kampmeinert
  •   Craig Lowry
  •   Jeffrey Muschik
  •   Rene Parra
  •   Josh Patlak
  •   Robert Schaap
  •   Thomas Supple
  •   Fabio Tovar
  •   TJ Zablocki

International roster edit

As of January 2024, these PRO officials' were listed on the international roster:[13]

International appointments edit

In December 2018, Jair Marrufo as referee, Frank Anderson and Corey Rockwell as assistant referees, and Mark Geiger as an assistant video assistant referee, were selected to oversee the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup final.[14]

In August 2023, six PRO officials were appointed to the FIFA Women's World Cup final—three on-field and three video officials. Tori Penso was chosen to adjudicate the final, alongside assistant referees Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt. Also chosen were Support VAR Armando Villarreal, Standby VAR Carol Anne Chenard, and Standby AVAR Drew Fischer.[15]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Headquarters". Professional Referee Organization.
  2. ^ "Support Staff". Professional Referee Organization.
  3. ^ "About PRO". Professional Referee Organization.
  4. ^ "About PSRA". Professional Referee Organization.
  5. ^ Avi C. (6 March 2012). "U.S. Soccer, MLS create new referee program". SBI Soccer.
  6. ^ "Support Staff".
  7. ^ "MLS Awards Roll of Honor".
  8. ^ "USL Awards Roll of Honor".
  9. ^ "Referees".
  10. ^ "Assistant Referees".
  11. ^ "Video Assistant Referees".
  12. ^ "Assistant Video Assistant Referees".
  13. ^ "FIFA International List of Match Officials".
  14. ^ "PRO officials selected to oversee FIFA Club World Cup Final". Professional Referee Organization. 21 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Tori Penso to referee 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Final".

External links edit

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