Official Take Archives for July 2009
Today was game day! CJ and I refereed Costa Rica vs. Canada. We did our pregame at lunch. After
some rest, the ride to and from the stadium was a little faster, due to the police escort that
helped us get through rush hour traffic. The game went well. It was 2-2 draw with two cautions. It
was very hot and humid.
Today is the day before the 3rd game in group A so for us, that means game day preparation for
tomorrow. We went to the beach and did our warm up and light workout, because the sand makes sure
the workout doesn't impact our bodies too hard. We then got dinner and watched the other games and
got to bed to get rest for the next day.
Today we got up and did a recovery workout before getting on the charter flight to Miami. This
workout was just to get the heart rate up a little to help flush the lactic acids from the body.
With a good stretch to help the muscles recover as well, it was off to the airport where our bus
dropped us off at a small airport.
Today was matchday 2 for our group. I had the day off while Jair and CJ refereed Jamaica vs Costa
Rica. The game went well with one caution and one red card. I got to watch both games up in a box
with the administrators, assessors and an instructor. It was nice to relax and watch the games and
cheer for our referee team.
Every year, CONCACAF organizes a course for elite level referees in the United States. This
includes all the referees who participate in tournaments in CONCACAF like the Champions League,
Gold Cup and FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. This year, prior to the 2009 Gold Cup, six U.S. referees
were invited, of which three are participating in the Gold Cup—Terry, Jair and CJ Morgante.
Everyone today did game preparation, except for me since I have a few more days before my game. I
did a high intensity training session. The workout started out with a good warm up. I walked 20
yards from the corner flag toward the goal then I turned on a diagonal, jogging forward 20 yards,
then turned and ran backwards to the sideline.
Today, we woke up in Columbus, Ohio to get ready for our upcoming match. After breakfast we got a
bus and went to a soccer field where we did a medium intensity training for 90 minutes, doing a
good warm up and interval runs like we would do in a game—some jogging, some full sprints,
running backwards and changing back and forth along with some slower walking for recovery.
This morning we woke up to head out for the next venue. Our flight departed at ten in the morning.
CONCACAF organized for us to fly a charter flight from Long Beach, CA to Columbus, Ohio, along with
the other referees that officiated the first two matches at the Home Depot. We also flew with the
Jamaican national team and the El Salvador national team.
After days of training and preparation, today was game day. We were working the opening match
between Canada and Jamaica. Here is a run down of the day: We woke up and had breakfast and started
making plans for the match. We then got some rest and had lunch while we did our pre-game
preparation. We like to do our pre-game before we go to the stadium because at these events you
never know what is
The last day of the seminar was today. We had a full day of class, which was focused on making sure
we are all on the same page with the things we had covered and a few other subjects were covered
too. Then we had another session of practical out on the field. This was more focused and more
intense to help us make those decision that we need to work together to get right.