The referee is barreling toward the penalty area of a well-manicured grass field at Andrew Brown Park. He just had to deal with a confrontation near midfield. Now he needs to get into position to see the action in the 18-yard box. As he arrives, the Malaysian defender puts his studs in - a foul. But where did it take place? Is it a penalty or not? Was the infraction committed inside or outside the area? "I'm not sure, but I think it's in," the referee says. The penalty is given. "Yes, good!" the Malaysian man says, giving the ref a high five. He is not a defender ready to bark at the official. He's hardly a defender at all. He is Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh, a referee instructor. The referee is taking part in a training session with elite Concacaf referees and young officials pushing to get to that level. In a real match, he'd show no uncertainty, point to the spot and stand behind the call.
Concacaf referees are training in Coppell and staying in Grapevine during the Gold Cup, the region's most important tournament. The day before each match, crews head to Dallas Fort Worth Airport to travel to their sites. They come back to Grapevine after their matches for more training and recovery - plus a blunt assessment of their performances and instruction on what could be done differently the next time around. The penalty-or-no-penalty drill is just one of several exercises designed to help refs spot the smallest of details while managing the movement of 22 players on the field. In another, referees run in a pattern and then are flashed a color by a trainer. "Blue!" they yell when they spot a blue object. Then they complete the pattern. Assistant referees work on their acceleration to get down the line. In an era during which every call is being looked at frame by frame, the Gold Cup is one of the last major tournaments taking place without the use of a Video Assistant Referee. That means the refs have to get everything just right the first time around. The referees will be the first to admit, though, that doesn't always happen. "We want to have a perfect game. I know it's impossible to have a perfect game, but we try to do our best to come out being fair for both teams," El Paso native Jair Marrufo said. When they don't, they'll hear about it back at referee headquarters. Peter Prendergast is out of his chair. "This is, like... wow," says the former referee, who called games at the 2002 World Cup and now has transitioned into a coaching role. "Scenes like these really get us excited." That may be true of the refs, but it probably isn't for the average fan. Clips are shown in which the intended lesson or message may not be clear to the outsider. For referees, though, the little details are critical. Positioning, how loud the whistle is blown or even how close the ref gets to a player after calling a foul all get evaluated. There are two matches every night during the Gold Cup group stage. That means two crews - comprised of a ref, two assistants and a fourth official - to analyze daily. Each game is assigned to an instructor who then brings video clips of big moments to the team of referee instructors. Together, they watch key moments of each match to determine which clips will be included during that afternoon's debriefing session when all referees gather. Even in this room there is lively discussion. Brian Hall, Concacaf Director of Refereeing, doesn't agree with the interpretation of one of the clips and the planned messaging is modified. After lunch, the referees file in for the debriefing from the previous night's two matches. There are center officials from 10 nations - nine in Concacaf and one Qatari who, like Salleh, is here as part of an exchange with the Asian Football Confederation. The lights go down and with little fanfare, the clips start playing and being stopped, run forward and back. The sessions begin largely with positive reinforcement. The first video shown is a goal that appears to have been scored by a player who was in an offside position. The assistant referee who kept his flag down is asked to stand and explain himself. After he does, a replay from a different angle reveals the player is onside by several meters. The room breaks out in applause. The instructor spotted something interesting during the game. As the ball changes possession and the referee begins the sprint, he drops his head. "It's a bad habit," the ref immediately says upon seeing the clip. Then there's another clip. And another. The instructors advise the ref to work with one of the two FIFA fitness instructors present during the camp to try and remedy this issue. The criticism seems brutal, especially for a game that all involved agree was called well and with the official sitting in the room full of his peers. Yet, it comes from a good place. The referees strive for excellence. That word, excellence, has become a one-word motto for Hall. Even the cards the referees issue have the word on it. It's incorporated onto the logo on their shirt sleeves. The head drop is a blip in time, but if an infraction occurs during that blip, it's a call the referee will miss. That culture is new in Concacaf, Prendergast said, with referees in his era struggling to find the same type of accountability. "It takes a village to raise a child, and the atmosphere we provide is this village, this family," he said. "It's a family that is dependent on trust and an open policy. The door is always open. We don't ever close the door. We're always available. It creates this environment of trust." It's a learning moment that would've been tougher before the refs started congregating in Dallas. The refs were here for the previous Gold Cup as well, but prior to that traveled in different groups. Now they all can look each other in the eye to offer feedback, a joke or a word of encouragement. "By having a referee headquarters here in Dallas, what are we able to do? We're able to, number one, provide streamlined and uniform instruction to all of our referees. I'm not hearing something in one group, another in another group That's key," Hall said. "Number two, which most people don't realize is the importance of a family environment. Because the profession of a referee is one that has real ups and some real downs, right? The importance of family is when you're down, you need people that are going to put their arm around you, pick you up when you're down." No one comes to the stadium to cheer for the referees. They cheer for each other - sometimes literally in the case of the applause and a few hollers during the debriefing session. Being together in Dallas lets them switch off. The night ends with the officials watching that night's contests either communally in the same room used for the tactical session or in other parts of the host hotel. They're rooting for their team, the referees. But they're also looking at the behavior of each team and watching certain players in case they're called upon to oversee a contest involving one of the squads in the future. "I think it's important to highlight that the Concacaf referee prepares the same way as the players." veteran official John Pitti said. "A lot of times, the people in the stands think the ref is waiting to make a call or give a message and that he has to go to just the game, that there's not preparation." After the games conclude, it's time to get to sleep, closing out a day of more than 14 hours of focus on their jobs during the Gold Cup. The bus for training leaves at 7 a.m. the next day. It's easy not to think about the officials, or have them pop into mind only when they make a call that goes against your team. They hope, though, fans remember they're trying their best to get that call right, working on training their eyes to spot the finest detail, talking about the best place to be on the field to see the action. They also hope you remember that refs are people too. "Us referees are also human beings. We've got all types of emotions too. We feel. We prepare really hard," Calderon said. "When a situation happens and we make the right decision, we also enjoy that. And unfortunately, when you commit an error, you also suffer. (I hope people) don't forget that the referee is a human being, just like those who are playing soccer and the fans who are enjoying the game. We're all playing a different role in this huge passion."
