Hester gave up the whistle in 2011 to concentrate on his career in the New Zealand Royal Navy but this year he has made a welcome return to the world of football as a FIFA Instructor.
The wealth of experience and knowledge gained during his stint as a FIFA referee of the highest order means Hester is a qualified addition to the referee development team in Oceania.
His first appointment concluded on Saturday in American Samoa where a FIFA Refereeing Course was held by OFC Referee Development Officer Mark Hester, giving local referees a chance to pick the duo’s brains over four days.
Head of Refereeing for Football Federation American Samoa Uinifareti Aliva encouraged participants to make the most having such experts on hand.
“This is a great opportunity for us, especially as we have a lot of new faces on this course,” Aliva says.
“We also have three females attending the course and hope they can continue and strive to become match officials for us.
“Our National League will kick off in September and this course is going to help our referees and assistant referees prepare to officiate our biggest competition of the year.”
For Mark Hester, it’s his fourth course in American Samoa was able to express his pleasure at being back to shape some new referees.
“This course is going to be a good one and I’m sure you’re going to learn a lot from it,” he told participants at the opening, ” but to learn as much as you can, it requires participation.
“We are all here to help lift the standard of refereeing in American Samoa and who knows, possibly in another five or ten years someone from this room could be out there officiating international matches.”
The FIFA Refereeing Course in American Samoa was held from 4-8 August 2015 in Pago Pago.
For more on American Samoa football visit www.ffas.as

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