Thursday, January 28, 2010

NMSRA Group Run

We'll be meeting for a run this Saturday at 10:00 AM on the dam that is on Juan Tabo, between Montgomery and Spain.


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All ability levels are welcome! Tournaments start up next weekend, so time is running out to make sure your fit and ready to go. Email Orion Stradford if you have questions.

See you there!

Friday, January 22, 2010

ODP Championships 2010



A select group of eight NM Referees started their season a little early this year. Once again we had a great group of referees attend the Region IV ODP Championships. The tournament was again held in Phoenix, AZ, at the beautiful Reach 11 Complex.

We drove down as a group on Friday morning, taking our time and even stopping for a nice lunch in Gallup. Once we were checked in at the nice hotel, we had dinner and talked about what to expect at the tournament. The next few days would go by quickly; early mornings and long hours at the field finished with evening meetings will do that to you. We had instruction from National Referees, National Instructors and even a FIFA AR.

After some rain on Monday we finished finals on Tuesday with only partly cloudy skies and fairly dry fields. Overall, the tournament was a success and we learned a lot.

Referees in Attendance:

Orion Stradford
Wilfido Mendez
Oscar Toquinto
Clayton Merritt
Mark Merritt
Amanda Forletta
Bob Croft
Kris Grano

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Far West Regional Championships 2010



By now everyone should know that New Mexico is hosting the Regional Championships this June. All parties involved are very excited for this great opportunity! Planning has been going on for months now and there is still a lot to be done. We'll need all the help we can get to make sure NM is well represented at this event.

The tournament will be held June 21-27 at the State Farm Soccer Complex. For information on the tournament you can click here to check out the Region IV website. We are looking for "soccer buffs" to help out with the field marshal volunteering; if interested please email Jeff Eschenburg and let him know you'd like to help out. If you are interested in representing NM as a referee, read on for the details...

2010 FWR Referee Requirements

As the host state for FWR we will have the unique opportunity to provide extra, or "standby", referees for the tournament. These referees will be in addition to the normal group that is selected to go to FWR so it gives us more slots and more opportunity for you to get the experience of a Regional-level event! Although you will not be guaranteed game assignments as a standby, you will be held to the same requirements as any referee selected for FWR. This means a dedication of time and effort leading up to the tournament. Please do not apply if you are unable to meet the requirements.

There will likely be 10-15 standby and 10 normal referee slots available. If you are unsure about the process by which referees are selected to go to FWR you can read the earlier blog about how it works here. Some new things this year:

  • All referees who would like to be considered need to email me (Kris Grano) by April 1st.
  • After I have verified you meet the basic requirements you will receive an email with an application to complete and return.
  • Final selection as standby or normal referee slots will be dependent on experience, grade level, performance and attendance of meetings/training sessions. I will not hold it against you if you are not able to attend meetings because you are not in the metro area.
  • All referees within the metro area will be required to attend a combination of at least six of the following meetings: Game of the Week, NMSRA Running Group, FWR Referee Meeting or other training sessions made available for this purpose.
  • Referees selected to attend FWR will be required to be available throughout the tournament. This means you can't apply and only want to do morning games, etc.
  • Referees out of the Albuquerque area will be provided a hotel room free of charge.
Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any more questions about this process. I would ask that you review this document fully before emailing me questions as the document should cover most of the frequently asked questions.