Football Federation American Samoa(FFAS) is currently hosting a five-days FIFA-MA Refereeing Course, conducted by Oceania Football Confederation’s(OFC) FIFA Referee Instructor and Tonga’s Head of Refereeing, Tevita Vea.
In delivering the key note address, FFAS President, Sen. Faiivae Iuli Alex Godinet, encouraged 21 local referees in attendance to take advantage of the knowledge being delivered.
“If you don’t take this knowledge and do something useful with it, like passing it on to your clubs so that they can better understand the Laws of the Game, then you are wasting your time here. We don’t want that. I want you to use this to better equip yourself for our association, and for yourself.”
The course which made up of theoretical and practical components is designed to help participants better understand the game, in particular, the most common occurrences in football, such as the offside rule and fouls.
“The work starts here, learning as much as you can from this course and then applying it to games,” Vea pointed out.
“You have to make time to study Laws of the Game, train and work hard to get to a higher level. No one can do this, only you. You have to do this yourself and on your own, taking care of yourself. Don’t forget, I am here to help you all, the FFAS is here to help too with competitions.”
The instructor will be working extensively through the week with local referee instructors Sione Mau, Talalelei Faalavaau and Chin Fu Poasa to deliver the Laws of the Game to the participants.
FFAS Chief Executive Officer, Tavita Taumua said the seminar is timely for the association.
“This is very good timing for our association because our senior men and women’s National Leagues kick off on August 24, while the U-15 boys and girls national leagues start on August 27 and 29”
“For most of our referees this course is a referesher and it is good that the majority of them are our senior referees from 2018.”
A fitness test for the referees is also in the books, and it is one of the biggest stepping stones in becoming a FIFA/OFC match official.
Story Courtesy: Football Federation American Samoa