REFS NEED LOVE TOO
An honest perspective from the 3rd team on the pitch... the referees. Through humor, analysis and education, we are slowly changing how people view referees and officials in all sports. We care and have a love for the game as much as any player or coach. Sometimes even more. Youth soccer (proper football) is a multi-billion $ industry in the US. Tremendous money is spent on players, competitions, travel etc., but almost nothing spent on developing the next generation of referees. I hope that this Podcast inspires, educates and humanizes the next generation of referees for their own development and appreciation from the players, coaches and spectators they need to work alongside.
Episodes
116 episodes
You Can Save A Life By Starting A Conversation - Dr. Skye Arthur-Banning Discussing Mental Health in Sport Part 2
You can love sports and still admit this: the culture can be brutal on mental health. I sit down with Sky Arthur-Banning to talk about why sport is one of the best places to spot distress early, reduce stigma, and build real support networks fo...
Adaptive Soccer, Real Impact with Dr. Skye Arthur-Banning - Part 1
A retired Army Ranger captaining Team USA after a traumatic brain injury. A World Cup coming to Georgia that most soccer fans do not even know exists. A version of the game where the toughest calls are not about memorizing rules, but about unde...
Inside SOCAL Soccer League's Plan To Address America's Grassroots Referee Shortage with special guest, Michelle Chesters, Executive Director of SOCAL Soccer League
Youth soccer can’t function without referees, yet too many leagues treat officials like an afterthought until the shortage hits. I sit down with Michelle Chesters, Executive Director of SoCal Soccer League, to talk candidly about what it really...
Heat, Hustle, And The Referee’s Limit & Guest on the Powershift Mindshift Podcast with Coach Jay
Four games. Full sun. Ninety degrees. And not a single real break between assignments. We’re talking about the part of soccer nobody wants to face until it goes wrong: extreme heat, overloaded referee schedules, and why the current setup can pu...
How Three Young Referees Are Helping Launch An HBCU Soccer Program
You can feel it right away: this isn’t a normal college soccer conversation. We’re talking with Morgan Dunham, Zachary Eggeston, and Kingston McDonald as they help launch the brand-new Tuskegee Golden Tigers men’s and women’s soccer programs, s...
New Laws of the Game 2026/27 with Nathan Magill, Director of Education from US Soccer
Five seconds. That’s the new line between “let’s get on with it” and a restart that flips against you. We sit down with Nathan McGill, Director of Referee Education and Development at U.S. Soccer, to unpack the IFAB Laws of the Game 2026-2027 c...
World Cup Officiating Insights with Alan Kelly - PRO Director of Senior Match Officials and Former FIFA Referee
The World Cup can make even experienced fans feel like the rules changed overnight. Players stay on their feet more, restarts happen faster, and referees seem more willing to let contact go without losing control. That’s not an accident, and I ...
We Need Better Systems To Support Officials with Huck Sorock of REFR Sports
The World Cup is almost here, and my life is about to get loud in the best way: I’m heading to seven matches with FIFA and TikTok as a Creator Correspondent, with access that changes what I can share and where I can share it. That excitement is...
Coach Challenges And Video Review In College Soccer with John Collins, NCAA Head of Officiating
College soccer is about to change in ways that will hit everyone on match day: referees, coaches, players, and the people in the stands wondering why the game has stopped again. After sharing a personal weekend at the brand-new U.S. Soccer Nati...
World Cup Concerns on the "For Ref's Sake!" Podcast
The strangest part about refereeing is that everyone sees you, but almost nobody knows you. This week David was a guest on the "For Ref's Sake" podcast. We talk about how I went from a grassroots soccer referee turned global creator...
You Can Build A Referee Program That Kids Want To Join with Carlos Ledesma
The fastest way to lose a new referee is to certify them online and then throw them into the deep end on a busy weekend. We start with a few big updates from my world, including our first Dr. Tom Gerson Pops Memorial Scholarships for referees a...
Update! Bouncing Back After A Mistake
A single referee mistake can hijack your confidence for days, especially when it happens in a high school playoff match with a crowd watching. I share a raw update on a procedural error I had to admit publicly, including the moment I took a go-...
Integrity Over Ego: Why I Took a Goal Off the Board
A playoff match can feel perfect for 50 minutes and then unravel in 10 seconds. That’s what happened to me in Georgia, and I’m not proud of it. I’m sharing the full, raw story of a high school postseason game where I made a procedural mistake o...
Brand New at 42 with Holly Jimenez - It's Never Too Late To Be Great!
The hardest part of picking up a whistle as an adult isn’t learning the signals, it’s walking onto the field while everyone assumes you’ve done this forever. Holly Jimenez knows that feeling firsthand. She starts refereeing at 42, feels the ner...
What Elite FIFA Officials Can Teach Grassroots Referees with Jan Aravirtra, Referee Academy
The fastest way to level up as a soccer referee is not learning one more obscure law, it is learning how to handle people when the match te. I’m joined by Jan Aravitra, a former FIFA international referee from Finland with nearly two decades at...
Premier League Referee Scott Ledger on Longevity, Learning and Love of the Game
A soldier-turned-official sets a six-year goal to reach the Premier League—and makes it! Then he does an even rarer thing: he stays for over 15 years! We sit down with Scott Ledger, a 500+ appearance Premier League Assistant Referee and FA Cup ...
Respect The Call, Change The Game with Kari Seitz, VP of Referees for US Soccer
Abusive sidelines don’t fix bad calls—and they’re driving referees out of the game. We sat down with U.S. Soccer’s Vice President of Referees, Kari Seitz, to break down how “Respect the Call” and Policy 531-9 are changing that story with clear ...
Inside Video Review with Greg Barkey, Head of VAR for PRO
Ever wonder what “clear and obvious” actually means when the stakes are high and the clock is running? We bring you a rare, candid look inside MLS video review with Greg Barkey, the head of VAR at PRO. Greg shares how the system was built in th...
Inside Sunday League with Eric Edge from "Behind The Whistle"
Ever wonder what a referee actually says to defuse tenssions—or how it feels to make a split-second call with no assistants and 22 players demanding an answer? We sit down with Eric Edge, the former semi-pro goalkeeper behind the viral channel ...
Authority Without Anger: The Quiet Power Of A Calm Referee With Alex Perez
This week, we have a true full-circle moment on the show. After listening to our recent episode with Kevin Klinger on referee mindset, Regional Referee Alex Perez sent in an incredible email about how he immediately applied those lessons during...
The Mental Game: Building Better Referees with Kevin Klinger
Pressure doesn’t just come from the scoreboard—it lives in your head and your chest when the crowd roars and a coach questions your integrity. We sit down with Kevin Klinger, Director of Referee Education and Development at U.S. Officials and f...
From Grief To Growth: A Referee’s Year Of Loss, Reinvention, And Impact
A year can include joy and pain without destroying you. In 2025, I said goodbye to my dad—the person I called on every big news story, new tech breakthrough, or small family win—and then rebuilt my life in a way he’d love to hear about. That mi...
From Shortage To Solution: Reimagining Education For Officials with Kyle Armstrong of RefReps
Ever tried to judge a play from six feet off the ground with bodies flying past and zero replays? That’s where referees live, and it’s nothing like the view from the stands. We sit down with RefReps CEO Kyle Armstrong to explore how first‑perso...
Howard Webb’s Lessons And Dealing With Negative Self-Talk
Big games don’t get easier; you get better at carrying them. Ahead of my first State Cup final, I open up about nerves, preparation, and the quiet work that turns pressure into focus: fitness tuned for late sprints, gear and crew checks that pr...
Saving Grassroots Soccer Through Referee Support with The Referee Advocates
We sat down with Daneen Gonçalves, founder and chief visionary officer of The Referee Advocates, to unpack a simple idea with massive impact: treat referees like an integral and supported part of your club, build clear development pathways and ...