As the Program of Referee Excellence (PORE) continues to positively impact the refereeing landscape in Concacaf, those with direct survey over it are very excited with the initiative. Leading the program is Concacaf’s Director of Refereeing Brian Hall, whose take on the growing success of the initiative boasts impressive statistics and glowing true stories on the human side. PORE, designed and executed to develop referees in Concacaf’s cross-regional setup, aims to equip match officials to the elite level and on to their FIFA badges. The broad-based program is in the first phase of its Generation IV execution, with the Introductory Course completed in Toluca, Mexico, last February. The 14 participants will now move on to the Certification Course later this year in Bradenton, Florida.
“One of the [overall] tangible results we have had is the number of participants, and we have had 41 in the first three years, and another 14 that went through the first course this year. Because of the in depth, intensive, refereeing focused six-week total training with these individuals who come from all regions in Concacaf – Caribbean, Central America, North America – when they return home they come with a different understanding of what the role of the referee is on the field of play,” Hall told concacaf.com. In the first three generations of PORE, the Concacaf refereeing head says the figure of individuals matriculating to the FIFA level is a particular source of pride. “Of the total from three generations, we have had a total of 12 FIFA referees, male and female, from a total of 41 graduates, who have now moved on to reach the highest level of refereeing in the world, and they are working in Concacaf competitions. “What an opportunity for these individuals to give back to their member associations to help them to grow, and to represent their countries and Concacaf at the highest level,” Hall stated. “When you look at 12 FIFA referees out of 41, that’s a great number,” he emphasized. Hall said with 14 in the current program and others waiting in the wings, soon Concacaf will have an “influx” of elite referees going all the way to the FIFA level. “We have participants in the PORE program who are not eligible yet for their FIFA badges, either by age or their experience at the professional level in their country, so we are going to have an influx of FIFA referees coming up once these referees become eligible, and although that number of 12 out 41 is pretty good, it’s probably closer to 12 out of 30 who are actually eligible,” Hall explained. For the Generation IV activation, Hall says all the fundamentals point to growth in PORE up and across. “This year we had 30 nominees that were submitted, 14 participants were selected, and from that 14, we had 11 member associations represented which is a record. And out of those 14 participants, we had a record four women participating,” he said. Candidates, Hall points out, for PORE are selected following a thorough and highly thought out process of transparency. “What we do is send application forms to all 41 member associations, and those members send back their nominees to us, we have some requirements that we send to the member associations, then our staff analyzes those applications, and then we send those applications to Concacaf’s Referees Technical Advisory Team, which is made of 14 cross-regional refereeing experts. They then analyze these applications and then select the candidates who best meet the standards of the program… we then send that to our Referees Committee for the recommendation for the final stamp of approval,” Hall explained. He said while PORE is open in concept in the main, its purpose and curricula are anchored on the principles of grassroots development. At the end of PORE and the consequent internships, Concacaf’s long-term hope is to become the leading Confederation in producing a constant stream of elite referees. “Our job is to prepare our match officials physically, mentally and psychologically to get every decision correct, 100 percent of the time. Our goal is to develop excellent referees and that strive for excellence is noticed by FIFA and has resulted in our appointments to finals and semi-finals at FIFA World championships at all levels - men and women. I have to say we have made strides in the past three or four years,” he concluded.
Source: Concacaf