Member of the Month: Ann Blackwood
The CDSRA Member of the Month features referees of different ages, levels, and backgrounds to reflect the diversity in our referee community and our association. Our March 2022 Member of the Month is former FIFA Assistant Referee & CDSRA Honourary Lifetime Member Ann Blackwood
Questions & Answers:
Q: Current Referee Level & Highest level attained:
A: Retired. Highest level attained – FIFA Assistant Referee, National Referee
Q: When did you begin, and what motivated you to start refereeing?
A: I qualified the year after I moved to Calgary from Ontario. My motivation was watching my company’s Commercial League games in Toronto where the referees were SO bad I thought “I couldn’t be any worse – might as well give it a try”. I had also officiated many sports in high school, primarily to get out of actually playing the sport. I definitely wasn’t an athlete! Once I’d started, a key motivator for me to continue and to advance were all the people that told me that I couldn’t, that I’d never be any good, that I “should be home …” Proving them wrong was SWEET!
Q: What has been your most enjoyable game/memory of your referee career?
A: So many …. Where do I start? One of my favourite game memories was calling a foul on a Hungaria player and having him turn to me, with a lovely smile on his face, and say 3 of the 4 Hungarian swear words my friend and mentor, Andrew Ungar, had taught me just days before. The smile left his face pretty quickly when I carded him!!
It always makes me smile when I remember coming home with a Scottish accent after working as a team with Hugh McFadzean and Ed Gallagher covering 12 games over a 2 day Girls’ tournament.
I was very proud to have been chosen over 7 other female referees from across Canada to referee the final at the First National All-Star Women’s Soccer Tournament (in 1986).
Q: What do you love most about refereeing?
A: On the field, I love the challenge of preventative refereeing – anticipating when things may go sideways and getting in front of it with presence and voice. Off the field, the relationships that I was able to build – primarily with other referees, but also with the players and team officials. To this day when I meet people, if they have any affiliation to soccer, I can say “ask your Mom/Dad if she/he remembers Ann the referee” and it warms my heart when they say “oh, yes!”
Q: When did you first become a CDSRA member. and what encouraged you to join?
A: I joined the CDSRA within a year or two of qualifying (if I remember correctly). All of the referees I looked up to were members – why would I not?
Q: What advice would you give to somebody just starting out refereeing?
A: Ask, ask, ask, listen, listen, listen. I was barely adequate when I started, but asking a ridiculous number of (stupid) questions and truly listening to the answers helped me improve really quickly. When I first started refereeing, I had never played soccer so it was only with the help of other officials AND players that I learned to recognize some of the tricky fouls that I hadn’t ever experienced.
On the flip side, there can be people that don’t have your best interests at heart, so when they tell you something, thank them for their feedback, then ignore it. I remember a 6 foot 2 assessor telling me that my positioning was wrong on certain set plays. At 5 foot 6’ish, had I stood where he told me to, I wouldn’t have been able to see a thing. “Thank you, Mr. Assessor, I’ll work on it” – not.
Q: What do you do outside of refereeing and what are some of your interests?
A: I am a Human Resources leader with a specialty in Compensation, currently an independent contractor winding my way down into retirement. I’m a Calgary Hitmen, Roughnecks and Stampeders fan and REALLY enjoy red wine 😊
Career Highlights:
CDSRA Honourary Lifetime Member
Awarded Alberta’s Golden Whistle for 2012
Attained FIFA Lineswoman AND Assistant Referee status (an excellent title change in my opinion)
Attained National Referee status (prior to the separation of men’s and women’s programs)
Qualified as a Referee Instructor and Assessor
The only time I failed a fitness test was when I was pregnant.
Appointed to CONCACAF Gold Cup games, International Women’s Invitational, NPSL (Edmonton), MLS (Whitecaps), Canadian Men’s and Women’s Club Nationals, Canadian Men’s and Women’s University Nationals, Canadian Men’s and Women’s College Nationals, World Police Fire Games, Special Olympics (Calgary)
Served as Calgary league and tournaments Referee Scheduler for 5’ish years.