As I was preparing a job application, I ran across some of my old writing for D.C. United. Given the turn of events during the 2010 season, this particular piece caught my eye and as I re-read it, I was struck by just how silly it seems that TPTB at DCU had originally rejected Ben as a candidate for a full-time head coaching gig. The man was a great interview and a dedicated player.
I wish him the best of luck!
The Consummate Professional
Originally published in MLS' Freekick Magazine for D.C. United - 2004, Volume 9: Issue 3
On the pitch and off, Ben Olsen is a role model.
Ben Olsen has been a workhorse for D.C. United since joining the team as part of the Project-40 program in 1998. He played in 43 of United’s 44 matches in all competitions that year, with his four goals and eight assists in League play earning him Rookie of the Year honors.
He would continue his strong form into 1999, netting five goals and 11 assists in regular season play. Olsen added a pair of goals during United’s run to glory in 1999, including a game-winner in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals against Columbus.
His success vaulted him into the U.S. National Team picture, where he was named to Bruce Arena’s 2000 Gold Cup side. He played a full 90 minutes in the opening match against Haiti, and came off the substitute’s bench against Peru and Colombia. He was also a member of the U.S. U-23 National Team, bronze-medal winners in the Sydney Olympics.
With all of this success, Olsen soon attracted interest from abroad. In the summer of 2000, David Platt, then manager of Nottingham Forest, took note of a “bright, lively and energetic player” in the right side of the U.S. midfield. Platt felt that Olsen could make an immediate impact in the Garibaldi Reds’ first team, so he contacted United to arrange a loan for the youngster.
Olsen jumped into the fray with both feet and immediately became a favorite son of the Reds faithful. His hard work on match day earned him love and adoration from the fans, while his dedication on the training ground won him respect and popularity with his teammates.
“[Ben] soon got used to the pace and became a crowd favorite,” said Nottingham Forest Chief Executive Mark Arthur, recalling Olsen’s time at the Midlands club. “Forest fans love players who work hard and give everything to the cause. He worked hard in practice and became popular with his teammates.”
He continued to make an impact with Forest, scoring two goals in 18 appearances for the Reds in league play. His strong play fueled transfer talks between Forest and Major League Soccer, with the only stalling point the size of the transfer fee. That is, until March 2001, when a severely fractured ankle ended Olsen’s loan to Forest.
Olsen would miss the entire 2001 MLS soccer season recovering from the injury. He underwent four surgeries on the ankle, completing the regimen on June 11th, 2002. He immediately set to training, and made his first appearance on July 27th, recapturing his spot in the starting XI nearly two years to the day after his last appearance for the Black-and-Red.
It was as if he’d never left. Olsen continues to show the dedication to D.C. United that marked his outstanding rookie season. He continues to give his all on the pitch and off. One of the hardest workers on the pitch, his passion for the game is evidenced by the little things he does. He is often the first person in the locker room before practice, taking care of his body. After games, he is always open to questions from the media and is very well-spoken and in control no matter the situation.
And when asked about his aspirations for the future, his love for D.C. United is clear.
“My aspirations right now are D.C. United being a championship team,” said Olsen matter-of-factly. “That’s the only thing in my control. That’s all I can focus on, helping in some way to get us back where we were, to help bring back the trophies.”
And were you to just know that, Olsen’s story would be impressive enough. But in addition to his tremendous work ethic on the field, Olsen is just as dedicated to D.C. United off the pitch.
At D.C. United’s 2004 Meet the Team Day, an annual event for season ticket holders to meet the players and coaching staff, the attendance was overwhelming. A line stretched throughout the restaurant and spilled into the parking lot. Even after a hard-fought match against Los Angeles the night before, the players were hard at work, getting only one break in a three hour stretch – ten minutes to stuff down their food, barely enough time to taste it – before going back at it. At 4:30 p.m., the doors were mercifully closed, a full half-hour after the scheduled 4:00 cutoff. But up to the very end, one player had a huge smile on his face, genuinely happy to be there. It was just another way for Olsen to give back to the fans that have supported him and the club so much.
Olsen has always been excited to give back to the community, whether here or abroad. Like D.C. United, Nottingham Forest is a club dedicated to making an impact in their community. Olsen was always interested in helping. Always the willing volunteer, children both here and abroad took a quick liking to the well-rounded player.
In 2003, his community work was recognized, as Olsen was honored as the U.S. Soccer Foundation Major League Soccer Humanitarian of the Year. He took a large role within several of United’s youth and charitable initiatives, as well as donating his personal time to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Olsen has since been invited to join the board of D.C. United’s charitable arm, United for D.C.
It was an easy decision for Olsen.
“If you’re asked to do something to help the club in any way, [you do it],” said Olsen. “I believe in giving back to the community as much as you can. When they [the United for D.C. board] honored me by asking me to sit on the board, of course I said yes.”
That is what sets Ben Olsen apart. Olsen is focused on one thing, the present. It’s no coincidence then, that Mark Arthur’s most lasting recollection of him is quite simple.
“Apart from being a great person, Ben was the consummate professional soccer player.”
Was and is.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
On Marriage, Unmet Promises and Divorce
I don't expect a lot of people to understand the full depth of why I am making the decision that I am, or why I am being so critical of the rebranding decision by OnGoal. Logically speaking, I can make a case on either side. Emotionally speaking, I prefer to keep the name Wizards, especially since it's never been given a real honest treatment.
I've been pretty involved in a rather spirited (some would say heated) discussion over on BigSoccer, and I've purposely not brought in my personal experience - hoping to keep the discussion focused on logic and facts. But in this space, I feel like I have a little more freedom to get into what is driving what many of those people are deriding as a reactionary and shallow decision.
With the name change, I have decided that I will be canceling my season tickets for the Wizards next season. I didn't really have a great way to describe it until the discussion offered both a metaphor and a framework in which to apply it. The metaphor (mentioned in the title of these entries) was couched in the sliding scale of team support suggested by another poster, ranging from non-customer to fan to supporter.
Until this season, I considered myself a supporter of the Wizards. I have traveled many thousands of miles to support the team, from the times I drove up from Wichita to regular season matches, to spending 90 minutes huddled with Matt Fulton and his girlfriend in Edmond at a freezing exhibition game against Columbus, to hauling a large grill down to an exhibition match in Tulsa to tailgate with the traveling fans, to flying from D.C. during the midweek for the 2004 US Open Cup final.
I stood by the team during the sales process, and knew that the change of owners would be a great thing. Even when I saw the ownership group struggle to handle the blowback from Richard Tolbert that eventually cost the team the chance to build at the Bannister Mall site, and the struggles to identify a temporary home, I still supported the team.
But then the broken promises and unmet expectations began. Undercut ticket prices. Contest items promised to you were given away and then their replacements were never forthcoming. E-mail and phone inquiries both customer service-related and human resources-related were not returned.
As a result, cracks in what had been an otherwise happy marriage between supporter and club began to form, and in a strongly self-preservation move, I began to distance myself a bit. I moved from the realm of the supporter - willing to spend money that I didn't necessarily have to watch the team and cheer on the players - to that of the fan - more constrained by rational financial considerations.
But I was willing to forgive. I was aching to forgive, in fact, and had put down a deposit for 2011 season tickets. Remembering the promise of potential from OnGoal, indeed from Robb Heineman himself, I was willing to forgive what I thought were exceptions. I was hopeful that a man who had acknowledged his commitment to communicating with the fans would be able to right the ship. I hoped that his intentions borne out in a March 2008 interview with Yahoo! (“There was a pretty severe disconnection between the fans and the club at the time and the only way to fix it was to get out there and get the information firsthand.”) would be continued here.
Then rumors started to leak about a potential rebrand. Some random, anonymous and not-quite-reputable sources leaked the name that will likely be announced on Wednesday and drew immediate fire. No real response was forthcoming, so I still took OnGoal at its word - as promised from several sources in 2006 - that they were committed to the Wizards as a brand.
Fast forward to November. In a Q&A posted on the MLS website, Heineman said: "We’re giving a lot of conversation to whether it’s Wizards or any other name. But we want to make sure that it’s something that’s transitional, has longevity and means something to the city and to us. We are spending a lot of time on it. There are going to be opinions both ways whether we keep it or go away from it, but I don’t want anyone to think we aren’t thinking through it. We certainly aren’t doing anything until it’s thought through thoroughly."
Hearing this, I felt slightly reassured, like the spouse who hears the promises of their lover. But then more clues - a low-resolution screenshot of the logo, domain registration proof, the announcement of a "major event" - came to the forefront and continued to chip away at the trust I had in Robb's statement. And with the leak today of the availability of scarves, t-shirts and other merchandise, it's all but a foregone conclusion that this decision is not - as many people (myself included) have hoped - a hoax.
So to re-read Robb's quote from November 2, I hear a promise breaking. Having had four full seasons to throw any sort of real brand-building efforts - merchandise, marketing, a PR blitz, etc. - behind the Wizards brand and chosen not to do so, what I heard from that statement is that OnGoal had been biding their time since 2007 to abandon the name.
And that pisses me off. Not because I have any real attachment to the Wizards name, mind you, as I would have understood if OnGoal had decided to make the rebranding decision in a fashion similar to what Red Bull, GmbH did when they purchased the MetroStars. It makes me angry because I see the result of what was claimed to be a thoroughly contemplated process and ask myself WTF? As a name for the MLS team, Sporting KC is hardly an improvement. Between the name and the logo design, I see nothing that even remotely meshes with Heineman's comments in the interview - nothing transitional, nothing with longevity, and certainly nothing that "means something to the city." The name is bland, uninspired, uninspiring and worst of all confusing. It is, sadly enough, a technically solid logo that could be seen as an improvement over the current Wizards marks, but it looks unfinished.
Worst of all, Heineman showed just how much hubris OnGoal has in an interview with Thad Bell. Thad asked a (then) hypothetical question which followed on the heels of an answer that spun the decision as still up in the air.
TB: "If there is a rebrand, and a team name change, if the colors change, etc., you know there are going to be a lot of diehard fans who are extremely upset. Is there going to be a campaign to woo them and say why you're doing it and exactly lay it out for them?"
RH: "What we're definitely going to do is explain - everything - and try to explain it to the nth degree, and try to answer as many questions about it as possible. Are we going to try to woo people? No. I think we're going to lay out our story and, you know, that's going to be our story and we're sticking to it. The decisions we make we end up having to live or die with and we have the convictions to go and do that."
Notice that nowhere in there did he take a moment to mention consulting the existing fanbase or express any concern over the potential backlash. That's a far cry from the man who in 2008 made a note of a very severe disconnect between the fans and the club, and then made an effort to address that problem by making himself accessible to the fans.
What, exactly, has changed for Robb - and by extension OnGoal - in the intervening two years that allows them to be able to willfully ignore a disconnect between the club and the fanbase now that they worked hard to remedy in 2008? Why are they so full of hubris that they are choosing to ignore all of the confounding variables (poor on-field performance, struggles to get the stadium built, a barely-adequate temporary home and a lack of reasonable marketing) that are artificially depressing the value and perceived potential of the Wizards brand in favor of the confounding variables that will artificially inflate the value of the Sporting KC brand?
I know that there are a lot of people who love and support the team and feel that the rebranding is a necessary step, and who have pledged their undying love to OnGoal. I respect them and do not begrudge them that choice. But for me, it's time to make the break and move on. The divorce will be final sometime after 5:30 p.m. tonight, all that remains is to hear the spin.
I've been pretty involved in a rather spirited (some would say heated) discussion over on BigSoccer, and I've purposely not brought in my personal experience - hoping to keep the discussion focused on logic and facts. But in this space, I feel like I have a little more freedom to get into what is driving what many of those people are deriding as a reactionary and shallow decision.
With the name change, I have decided that I will be canceling my season tickets for the Wizards next season. I didn't really have a great way to describe it until the discussion offered both a metaphor and a framework in which to apply it. The metaphor (mentioned in the title of these entries) was couched in the sliding scale of team support suggested by another poster, ranging from non-customer to fan to supporter.
Until this season, I considered myself a supporter of the Wizards. I have traveled many thousands of miles to support the team, from the times I drove up from Wichita to regular season matches, to spending 90 minutes huddled with Matt Fulton and his girlfriend in Edmond at a freezing exhibition game against Columbus, to hauling a large grill down to an exhibition match in Tulsa to tailgate with the traveling fans, to flying from D.C. during the midweek for the 2004 US Open Cup final.
I stood by the team during the sales process, and knew that the change of owners would be a great thing. Even when I saw the ownership group struggle to handle the blowback from Richard Tolbert that eventually cost the team the chance to build at the Bannister Mall site, and the struggles to identify a temporary home, I still supported the team.
But then the broken promises and unmet expectations began. Undercut ticket prices. Contest items promised to you were given away and then their replacements were never forthcoming. E-mail and phone inquiries both customer service-related and human resources-related were not returned.
As a result, cracks in what had been an otherwise happy marriage between supporter and club began to form, and in a strongly self-preservation move, I began to distance myself a bit. I moved from the realm of the supporter - willing to spend money that I didn't necessarily have to watch the team and cheer on the players - to that of the fan - more constrained by rational financial considerations.
But I was willing to forgive. I was aching to forgive, in fact, and had put down a deposit for 2011 season tickets. Remembering the promise of potential from OnGoal, indeed from Robb Heineman himself, I was willing to forgive what I thought were exceptions. I was hopeful that a man who had acknowledged his commitment to communicating with the fans would be able to right the ship. I hoped that his intentions borne out in a March 2008 interview with Yahoo! (“There was a pretty severe disconnection between the fans and the club at the time and the only way to fix it was to get out there and get the information firsthand.”) would be continued here.
Then rumors started to leak about a potential rebrand. Some random, anonymous and not-quite-reputable sources leaked the name that will likely be announced on Wednesday and drew immediate fire. No real response was forthcoming, so I still took OnGoal at its word - as promised from several sources in 2006 - that they were committed to the Wizards as a brand.
Fast forward to November. In a Q&A posted on the MLS website, Heineman said: "We’re giving a lot of conversation to whether it’s Wizards or any other name. But we want to make sure that it’s something that’s transitional, has longevity and means something to the city and to us. We are spending a lot of time on it. There are going to be opinions both ways whether we keep it or go away from it, but I don’t want anyone to think we aren’t thinking through it. We certainly aren’t doing anything until it’s thought through thoroughly."
Hearing this, I felt slightly reassured, like the spouse who hears the promises of their lover. But then more clues - a low-resolution screenshot of the logo, domain registration proof, the announcement of a "major event" - came to the forefront and continued to chip away at the trust I had in Robb's statement. And with the leak today of the availability of scarves, t-shirts and other merchandise, it's all but a foregone conclusion that this decision is not - as many people (myself included) have hoped - a hoax.
So to re-read Robb's quote from November 2, I hear a promise breaking. Having had four full seasons to throw any sort of real brand-building efforts - merchandise, marketing, a PR blitz, etc. - behind the Wizards brand and chosen not to do so, what I heard from that statement is that OnGoal had been biding their time since 2007 to abandon the name.
And that pisses me off. Not because I have any real attachment to the Wizards name, mind you, as I would have understood if OnGoal had decided to make the rebranding decision in a fashion similar to what Red Bull, GmbH did when they purchased the MetroStars. It makes me angry because I see the result of what was claimed to be a thoroughly contemplated process and ask myself WTF? As a name for the MLS team, Sporting KC is hardly an improvement. Between the name and the logo design, I see nothing that even remotely meshes with Heineman's comments in the interview - nothing transitional, nothing with longevity, and certainly nothing that "means something to the city." The name is bland, uninspired, uninspiring and worst of all confusing. It is, sadly enough, a technically solid logo that could be seen as an improvement over the current Wizards marks, but it looks unfinished.
Worst of all, Heineman showed just how much hubris OnGoal has in an interview with Thad Bell. Thad asked a (then) hypothetical question which followed on the heels of an answer that spun the decision as still up in the air.
TB: "If there is a rebrand, and a team name change, if the colors change, etc., you know there are going to be a lot of diehard fans who are extremely upset. Is there going to be a campaign to woo them and say why you're doing it and exactly lay it out for them?"
RH: "What we're definitely going to do is explain - everything - and try to explain it to the nth degree, and try to answer as many questions about it as possible. Are we going to try to woo people? No. I think we're going to lay out our story and, you know, that's going to be our story and we're sticking to it. The decisions we make we end up having to live or die with and we have the convictions to go and do that."
Notice that nowhere in there did he take a moment to mention consulting the existing fanbase or express any concern over the potential backlash. That's a far cry from the man who in 2008 made a note of a very severe disconnect between the fans and the club, and then made an effort to address that problem by making himself accessible to the fans.
What, exactly, has changed for Robb - and by extension OnGoal - in the intervening two years that allows them to be able to willfully ignore a disconnect between the club and the fanbase now that they worked hard to remedy in 2008? Why are they so full of hubris that they are choosing to ignore all of the confounding variables (poor on-field performance, struggles to get the stadium built, a barely-adequate temporary home and a lack of reasonable marketing) that are artificially depressing the value and perceived potential of the Wizards brand in favor of the confounding variables that will artificially inflate the value of the Sporting KC brand?
I know that there are a lot of people who love and support the team and feel that the rebranding is a necessary step, and who have pledged their undying love to OnGoal. I respect them and do not begrudge them that choice. But for me, it's time to make the break and move on. The divorce will be final sometime after 5:30 p.m. tonight, all that remains is to hear the spin.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
On Marriage, Unmet Promises and Divorce (Preview)
Before I scare anyone with that title, it doesn't refer to Brenda and I in any way.
And to be honest, it's really just a preview of commentary from tomorrow. The Kansas City Wizards have scheduled a big shindig down at the Power and Light district tomorrow afternoon, and the rumors that have been swirling are that the team will be announcing a name change.
I have a lot of thoughts on this, but I'm going to hold on to them for the moment. I'm praying that the rumor isn't completely true and that OnGoal isn't going to blithely burn the bridges with its existing customers in chase of a few new customers. I will be at the launch event taking notes, and I'll offer my full commentary tomorrow around 6 p.m.
And to be honest, it's really just a preview of commentary from tomorrow. The Kansas City Wizards have scheduled a big shindig down at the Power and Light district tomorrow afternoon, and the rumors that have been swirling are that the team will be announcing a name change.
I have a lot of thoughts on this, but I'm going to hold on to them for the moment. I'm praying that the rumor isn't completely true and that OnGoal isn't going to blithely burn the bridges with its existing customers in chase of a few new customers. I will be at the launch event taking notes, and I'll offer my full commentary tomorrow around 6 p.m.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Happy Blogsday!
Well, so much for the intention to write as the muse strikes... You've probably noticed a distinct lack of output here, but it's certainly not due to a lack of inspiration. Life has simply gotten in the way. From school to family to personal issues, this blog has been the last thing on the priority list. I have quite a few topics for posting that I've been ruminating on, but the actual act of putting fingers to keyboard has not been something that I've been successful at doing.
But after taking inspiration from various quarters, I've decided that it's time for a schedule. So from here on out, every Tuesday is my Blogsday. No matter what is happening, no matter how busy things are, I'm going to put words to page every Tuesday from now on. I've got a fairly decent backlog of thoughts that have been percolating, so it should be interesting and possibly provocative sailing for a couple of months.
Of course, it may happen that there are a few less-inspired posts mixed in, but the one thing you can count on is seeing something new every Tuesday. If nothing more than just riffing on what's happening in the news or the latest collection of Facebook statuses, I'm going to put them
And for an extra special bonus this week, I'll pop something up on Friday that promises to be of slightly more interest than this.
Until then, so long and thanks for all the fish!
But after taking inspiration from various quarters, I've decided that it's time for a schedule. So from here on out, every Tuesday is my Blogsday. No matter what is happening, no matter how busy things are, I'm going to put words to page every Tuesday from now on. I've got a fairly decent backlog of thoughts that have been percolating, so it should be interesting and possibly provocative sailing for a couple of months.
Of course, it may happen that there are a few less-inspired posts mixed in, but the one thing you can count on is seeing something new every Tuesday. If nothing more than just riffing on what's happening in the news or the latest collection of Facebook statuses, I'm going to put them
And for an extra special bonus this week, I'll pop something up on Friday that promises to be of slightly more interest than this.
Until then, so long and thanks for all the fish!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Star Without Heart No Longer
Landon Donovan, you are officially my hero.
I know that I gave you more than a fair share of grief following the last World Cup when you'd had possibly the worst tournament of any US player ever. (And I include Jeff Agoos in that comparison..)
Although you sparked the comeback against Slovenia and were denied the glory of the assist on the deserved game-winning goal, you struggled to put your stamp on the most crucial match in US World Cup history.
Until you collected the beautiful outlet pass from Tim Howard. And then fed Jozy Altidore in the space on the right flank. And smartly hung back while the play developed, watching as Altidore found Clint Dempsey in the six. And then pounced on the rebound and slotted it into the left side netting, sparking celebrations from US Soccer fans worldwide.
Thank you.
I may have called you a "Star Without Heart" in the past, but you are now the Heart and Soul of American Soccer.
I know that I gave you more than a fair share of grief following the last World Cup when you'd had possibly the worst tournament of any US player ever. (And I include Jeff Agoos in that comparison..)
Although you sparked the comeback against Slovenia and were denied the glory of the assist on the deserved game-winning goal, you struggled to put your stamp on the most crucial match in US World Cup history.
Until you collected the beautiful outlet pass from Tim Howard. And then fed Jozy Altidore in the space on the right flank. And smartly hung back while the play developed, watching as Altidore found Clint Dempsey in the six. And then pounced on the rebound and slotted it into the left side netting, sparking celebrations from US Soccer fans worldwide.
Thank you.
I may have called you a "Star Without Heart" in the past, but you are now the Heart and Soul of American Soccer.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Cognitive Dissonance, or In Defense of Koman Coulibaly....
The soccer fans in the audience are probably puzzled at the alternate title of this entry and may find themselves in severe discomfort in a few paragraphs. To those people, I beg you to hear me out.
Koman Coulibaly is a soccer official from Mali. He was the central player in what will live to be the most controversial of several debatable calls in the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa. On Friday, the US looked to make history, becoming the first team to ever come from a 2-0 deficit to win a match in the World Cup on the strength of a Maurice Edu finish of a well-served free kick by Landon Donovan. But an instant before Edu touched the ball over the outstretched hands of the Slovenian goalkeeper after knifing unmarked through the defense, Coulibaly's whistle sounded.The official game feed flashed "USA: Offside" under the score bug, and the official play-by-play feed said that Edu had committed a foul.In the stadium and in watch parties around the world, USA fans went from jubilation to absolute shock and outrage, as anyone watching the game saw multiple Slovenian defenders draped over USA attackers, and realized that the Americans had just been screwed out of a (semi-)deserved three points. (More on the parenthetical in another blog post...)Coulibaly didn't respond on the field to questions from a remarkably reserved US side, and to date we still have not heard an official explanation of what he saw that warranted a foul. Even though a number of World Cup referees will be available to the media on Monday, the official party line from FIFA is that there will be no comment on specific decisions. Some have suggested that the foul was whistled on Carlos Bocanegra, and others have suggested that Clint Dempsey was at fault. Reports have also indicated that Coulibaly's whistle was in his mouth the entire time, suggesting that he was looking for a foul from the get go. The performance even earned the number one spot in the "Lowlights Countdown" on ESPN's Winner's Bracket.Despite the likelihood that there will be no official explanation forthcoming, Yahoo.com has reported from FIFA sources that the full performance review will be expedited for Coulibaly's match and that his tenure at this World Cup is likely finished.The dismissal is certainly deserved and the continued focus on the play is nice, but in fairness, I cannot put any fault for this situation on Coulibaly. After considerable time to cool down, and aided in part by the poor U.S. performance in the first half and more in part by the fact that the Yanks are still in full control of their destiny, I hereby resolve Coulibaly of any blame for his failure.FIFA is entirely at fault here. By failing to adequately prepare referees from less experienced confederations for the largest stage in the world, FIFA fails the game and fails these officials.The commitment to equitable representation at the World Cup is admirable. The game of soccer is truly an international game, and it is crucial that all member federations have the chance to compete at the highest stage, both as players and as referees. Over the past couple of decades, we have seen the fruits of this, as the performance of African and Asian teams have impressed over the past several tournaments. Far from being the perpetual minnows to be gobbled up by the "traditional soccer powers", there have been a number of upsets that would simply have been unthinkable. However, the officiating has not kept pace, despite the fervent wishes and best intentions of FIFA.Coaches know that for players to improve, they must be challenged and pushed beyond their comfort zone. For teams, this is relatively easy, as they can schedule friendly matches with teams with whom they are moderately overmatched, take part in other tournaments, or look to foreign managers (cf. Hiddink, Guus) to train their squads. But for referees, there is no such avenue for professional improvement.If FIFA is truly interested in seeing growth in its officiating corps, it should make a greater commitment to giving developing referees the chance to oversee high profile matches where less hangs in the balance. In addition to offering an incentive to host federations who are willing to bring in referee crews from outside their country or even confederation for friendly matches, FIFA should make maximum use of the Confederations Cup.The warm up tournament for the World Cup Finals is an excellent opportunity to give a referee a high-profile match with all of the pomp and circumstance - and nervous moments - that surround the game. What would be the harm in bringing in developing referee trios and pairing them with successful, knowledgable referees from larger confederations as fourth officials to serve as mentors? Referees in CONCACAF, CONMEBOL and UEFA have many more opportunities to preside over games of highly-skilled, experienced squads than are available to referees from CAF, AFC, and OFC.By giving developing referees an opportunity to take on high-profile matches without the added pressure of determining a team's chances of continuing in the largest and most-important sporting event in the world, FIFA can really achieve the full representation that they so clearly desire and still satisfy their credo of Fair Play.And they can ensure that failures like that of Koman Coulibaly are less likely to happen in the future.
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