By Paul Kennedy – Soccer America

Rest in peace, Rey.

On and off the pitch, his words forever resonate like the way he lived life, “Play on, play on!”

Rest in Peace, Ken.

From: Gary W Huber President NISOA

I would like to thank the entire NISOA family for their diligence throughout this year as we faced a pandemic that has affected many of our personal and professional lives.

While many of the college soccer conferences were postponed to Spring 2021, some committed to playing, taking additional precautions to ensure the safety of all participants.

We are very proud of our members for their due diligence in fostering this safe environment for student athletes to accomplish their dreams and goals.

During these challenging times, NISOA has been committed to becoming the industry leader in education by providing weekly online video quizzes and analysis (Stimulus Quiz Initiative), 4-part video series focusing on the NCAA rule changes and continuing education through professional development (Summer Educational Series), physical fitness training program (NISOA FIT), and firsthand development stories from some of the top sports officials in the country (NISOA Fireside Chat).

Over the last six months, the NISOA Executive Board has deliberated on additional actions to help each member during this unprecedented year.

I am proud to announce that NISOA will be issuing a onetime membership dues renewal credit to all its returning members for the upcoming 2021 Season. This credit will be known as the “COVID Credit”.

Referees, Assessors, and Assignors registered for 2020 will be eligible for the $25.00 COVID Credit.  New members in 2021 will apply at the normal rates and will not be eligible for the COVID Credit.

As a registered non-profit organization, NISOA is pleased to be able to pass forward organizational savings to its membership from pandemic rebates related to our vendors, partners and the travel restrictions placed upon the organization starting in March.

In order to take advantage of the COVID Credit, registrations must be completed by February 28, 2021.

We are currently working on how NISOA will implement the COVID Credit and will advise all chapters once the changes are in place.

More information to follow in the upcoming month.

Gary W. Huber

NISOA President

It’s late September and Autumn is officially upon us. Trees are changing colors. Leaves are beginning to fall. There is no season like college soccer season, and for those missing those gloriously colorful moments of the beautiful game, we invite you to grab a hot cider and cozy up on Monday evenings, fireside with a very special guest. 

In light of Fall being the perfect setting for a sense of comfort, warmth, and reflection, NISOA proudly presents, “Fireside Chats with Chris Penso” featuring guest host, Mr. Fireside himself, former FIFA and current PRO Referee, Chris Penso. Join Chris in this all new Fall Series guaranteed to be sweeter than cinnamon and filled with treats too good to eat. Are we making you hungry yet? Monday evenings just got more interesting, with a perfect excuse to grab that evening Pumpkin Cinnamon Iced Coffee and self-reflect alongside Chris and his officiating aficionados to the crackling and burning of a fireplace. Finally, a relaxed setting where you get to unwind and talk real life with professional referees of all sports, while getting the very best instruction.

What’s a fireside chat without good conversation? You’ll be tuned in within minutes after hearing firsthand life behind the whistle or flag at the professional level. You will get to know legendary sports officials on a personal level over topics like keys to success, climbing the ladder, presence under pressure, and much more. We’re proud to be able to connect you with officiating legends in an off-script manner and give you the opportunity to have your questions answered by sports leaders. We have already received an overwhelming amount of questions and are sharing those with our host. Have questions for Chris and his guests? Send them to communications@nisoa.com.

Chris is hitting the ground running on the very first episode with none other than FIFA and PRO Referee, Ted Unkel focused on officiating under pressure. Catch the entertaining duo discuss the things you’ve always wanted to hear and listen to them talk about their lives as referees along with the topics you bring to the room via questions submitted. 

As a valued NISOA member, we welcome you to tune in with us every Monday this fall, starting October 5th. You can join via the Zoom link provided to you via email. As the weather changes, it’s also time for a change in your self-improvement habits, so, why not do it with the pros?

Join us in congratulating John Puglisi of New York Metro as he joins our esteemed NISOA Hall of Fame as an Administrator for 2020.He has played significant roles for the organization including NISOA President, Vice President, Secretary, National Clinician, and much more!

John advanced through the ranks of refereeing youth games at Long Island Junior Soccer League and Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association. He became a college official and worked many NCAA tournament games including the 2003 Division Two Men’s Final Four in Virginia Beach.

Shortly thereafter he became President of the New York Metro Intercollegiate Soccer Official Association and served in that role from 2004 until December 31^st of 2018. As a National Clinician since 2009, John has done a yeoman’s job of moving our educational programs forward.

John has been instrumental in building NISOA in his various roles. He climbed the ranks from NISOA Secretary (2013), Vice President (2015), to President (2017). In his presidency he prioritized the creation of the strategic plan, upgraded and redesigned our NISOA uniforms, created the NISOA Referee of the Week Program, planned the first NISOA Summit, had the first NISOA livestreamed AGM to increase transparency, and made several critical new hires including Lance VanHaitsma, Director of Operations, Mark Cahen, Director of Video Instruction, and Rod Kenny, National Director of Assessments. Most recently, he sat on the Executive Board in the capacity of Past-President. All of this while also creating our current website in 2010 and serving as the webmaster since then building and maintaining the NISOA website.

NISOA is forever grateful for your dedication, commitment, and leadership. Join us in thanking John for his service not just to NISOA but also to our country having served in the Naval Academy. John has been an integral part of NISOA’s past, present, and future!

Congratulations to our good friend Alex Prus, who was inducted into the NISOA Hall of Fame Class of 2020 as a Referee.

Since 1964, we have been inducting two superlative individuals each year for their commitment and success both on and off the pitch into the NISOA Hall of Fame. This year we have recognized FIFA, MLS, 7-time NCAA Men’s Cup College Cup official, and longtime friend to the college game, Alex Prus.

If you had the opportunity to attend the Summer Educational Series Professional Development session on Managing the Modern Game lead by Alex, you would have caught the teary-eyed moment he was informed of his induction into the NISOA Hall of Fame. (Watch here.)

“Thank you so much! I’m so speechless and I didn’t expect it at all,” Prus exclaimed.

Alex represented the US as a FIFA referee for five years from 2004 to 2009, and shortly after found himself MLS Referee of the Year. The man in the middle of the 2007 MLS Cup Final has officiated over 200 MLS matches, four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Finals, and 7 NCAA Men’s College Cup Championships. In 2008, he was in charge of the NCAA Men’s College Cup Final.

“I’m really honored to join the elite group of officials from the college game. Thank you so much,” says Prus.

Alex played professionally in Poland before focusing on his Master’s Degree in Physical Education and transitioning into a referee. After playing he became a coach, but, because he did not speak English, the language barrier led him to transition into a referee. He moved to the U.S. with his wife and two-year old son where where he progressed from a State Referee into a National Referee in 1996.

“I wore the green uniform for the first time in the MLS Cup, I used the first vanishing spray in its opening game in the MLS, and now I’m the first inductee for NISOA over Zoom; it’s not going to get better than that,” Prus said.

As the Director of PRO2 Match Officials, Alex’s goal is to find the next MLS referee or assistant referee. A big focus for the 2020 MLS season is dealing with the technical area, providing PRO2 members exposure to MLS matches and training alongside PRO members. The weekly webinars provide clips with every important aspect from the week’s matchups through video analysis. The webinars also provide information like key players, tactics, and video analysis for the following week. You can watch the final production of Alex’s work here.

This award was planned to be presented in person at the NISOA Summit, however due to the pandemic that event was cancelled in person, but we we’re thrilled to offer Alex another first to mark his belt with the first ever Zoom induction into the Hall of Fame.

Region V Award Video

A first of its kind, Saturday, August 31 marked the date of an unusual, yet extremely successful Annual General Meeting for NISOA, which broke an attendance record of 164 members nationwide who joined the virtual meeting.

We as an organization and you as parents, grandparents, sons, daughters, referees, and assessors have been introduced to new terminology following the COVID-19 Pandemic like, “CDC Guidelines” and “contact tracing”. We have made adjustments to how the organization operates as well as how we get our educational messages to you in a convenient manner.

We can’t say enough about the commitment and dedication our membership has shown this year. Your participation in the many organizational initiatives to advance and improve your skillsets as NISOA members is appreciated. One thing remains consistent; we will never stop working to make sure we keep you informed and prepared for your next match.

Although our 2020 NISOA Summit at Clemson was forced to be cancelled due to COVID-19, we have made major strides adding a communication staff, appointing Amanda Ross as our Director of Assessment and Tori Penso as Managing Director.

Our YouTube has over 1.2 million impressions, 6300 hours of watch time, 1930 subscribers and only 114 uploaded videos. We will continue to build on our success via this platform, making all of our educational content easy and convenient for you to participate and learn.

RefSix is a new and easy way to record your matches through your smartphone or smartwatch, and our partnership with them next Spring holds many surprises.  We have had 518 members and 3276 matches entered into the platform. New codes for Violent Conduct I and Violent Conduct II are available free on the RefSix app. Garmin users will also be able to have access to the app. All team rosters will be uploaded and we encourage you to use it as it provides valuable data we can use to provide you the best experience possible.

Starting on January 1^st, 2021 our new slate of officers and regional representatives will be coming in to serve our members. Our incoming President, Marc Lawrence has been serving as Vice President for the past 2 years and is a member of Michigan ISOA. Our incoming Vice President is Ben Trevino who has been on our Executive Board as Secretary for the past 2 years. We look forward to their leadership in continuing to drive NISOA forward.

This year marks our National Referee Program’s 35^th year anniversary. National Referees received a coral national badge and yellow and red cards to utilize in their matches. We have 168 returning National Referees, 22 new National Referees, as well as our National Referees that have decided to go Emeritus.

Major changes are being made to the assessment program. Newly appointed Director of Assessment, Amanda Ross looks forward to revamping the process with an updated form and score that will help guide our Assessors and elevate our feedback to officials. You can watch these training calls on YouTube here.

Eric Proctor from Florida Sun ISOA is our newest member of the Executive Board and we are privileged to have him join aboard in 2021. He has been sitting in on several of our initial meetings and will be functioning as Secretary starting in January. We are thrilled to have him join the leadership team.

Managing Director Tori Penso announced updates to our Strategic Plan. She highlighted minor changes that intended to simplify and evolve the existing plan as well as create a detailed 3-year plan focused on our priorities that are both timely and measurable. We now have more clarity in our purpose which has been defined as to serve the game we love. We have also added a new value to our portfolio which highlights our commitment to a diverse and inclusive community that drives us forward.

We’d like to welcome aboard our Communications team. Jamiel Ahmad, from RWISOA, as our new Communications Manager, and Adriana Contreras from WCISOA as our Social Media Coordinator. Together, they will be keeping you informed via our website, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and more! We look forward to their help to create meaningful dialogue with our members.

In addition to the organizational updates, the AGM is also a time to celebrate the accomplishments of our members through our annual award program. This year’s Hall of Fame Class includes Alex Prus as our Referee inductee. Many of you know Alex from his role representing the US as a FIFA referee, and others may know him more recently in his role as Director of PRO 2, helping to identify and develop the next generation of professional officials. Thank you, Alex, for all of your commitment to the collegiate game.

Our second inductee represents the administrator category and features John Puglisi, Past-President of NISOA. John has officiated many notable games including the 2003 Division 2 Men’s Final 4 in Virginia Beach. He has been a National NISOA Clinician since 2009, our webmaster since 2010, and has served several significant roles for the organization, including President from 2017-2018, Vice President in 2015, and NISOA Secretary in 2013. We greatly appreciate your dedication and commitment to NISOA and its mission.

The Rose Bernabei was awarded to Samantha Martinez from San Diego (CA). Last year, she officiated the 2019 NCAA Division 1 College Cup Semi Final featuring UNC vs. Washington State. She is also a 2020 participant of the Concacaf Program of Referee Excellence, a program that identifies talented officials at the domestic level within Concacaf that have the attributes and skillsets to one day be on the project of stardom.

Congratulations to John Kipp, our winner of the Dr. Ray Bernbei Honor Award, for The Most Outstanding Referee of the Year! He is a long time National Clinician at the Elizabethtown Camp and has held many positions at both the local chapter and national levels Thank you for everything you’ve done and your unwavering support over the years.

Kermit Quisenberry was given the Robert Sumpter Excellence in Teaching Award. He is a retired FIFA Assistant Referee and long-time MLS Assistant Referee. Many of you know Kermit climbing through the ranks in U.S. Soccer where Kermit has been a staple for the past 10-15 years providing education to our top officials. Kermit has provided invaluable education for our members year after year. We thank him for his service to the game and commitment to NISOA.

Howard Webb and Mark Geiger are the recipients of our NISOA Appreciation Award for lending their unmatched expertise and knowledge to our members in the NISOA Stimulus Quiz. Howard is a World Cup Final Referee and the PRO General Manager. Mark is a World Cup Official and World Class Instructor. We were very fortunate to have them host educational sessions that provided clarity on topics like handball and DOGSO vs SPA. Make sure to check them out!

We have 2 additions to our Lifetime Membership. Joe Palmer is a long-time chapter leader and a demonstrated leader in chapter communications. Randall Reyes has been instrumental in our instructional program throughout the years, creating material and translating this material in spanish to make us more inclusive.

Congratulations to our Regional Referees for demonstrating professionalism and positivity in being a role model for us: Region I – Jessica Remmes (ME) Region II – Kevin Shultes (NY) Region III – Dustiin Killick (PA) Region IV – Robert Zach (VA) Region V – Chris Romaca (WV) Region VI – Natalie Simon (FL).

If you were thinking of serving or giving back to the game, there is no better organization that will accept you and put you to work than NISOA. It is rewarding experience alongside wonderful people who are dedicated to evolving the game. Consider volunteering your time for one of our committees, currently seeking members for our diversity & inclusion committee as well as our website committee.

We thank you for the continuous appreciation from our membership for staying the course, getting information out, being available, and staying relevant during this pandemic. We appreciate all of your support and always welcome your feedback and thoughts. Wishing you all the best this season and looking forward to seeing you on the field soon!

Ab Leonard (NY)

We are truly sorry to announce the passing of Abbey Leonard on June 17, 2020. Abbey was a long time member of NISOA serving as a National Referee and Instructor. Abbey was elected to the NISOA Hall of Fame in 1996 and served the NISOA family as President in 1995-96. Abbey leaves behind some great memories of working with referees and a constant approach to better the game. He had a unique ability to introduce humor into his lesson plans while getting to the heart of the lesson. For many, we will remember another love of his (Golf) at the National meetings this was always a time to look forward to our association and interaction off the pitch. Abbey leaves behind his wife Loretta who often accompanied him to the National meetings and his son David. Arrangements for a celebration of life are pending.

Special thanks to NISOA Hall of Fame member and former NISOA President Mike Allen (OR) for the kind words of remembrance.

The Summer Educational Series will focus on the NCAA rule changes for the upcoming season. This cycle of rule changes is one of the most expansive in recent memory. Many of these rule changes were to align with the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in order to provide a consistent interpretation of rules being played throughout the world, however, there are still differences between the two sets of rules/laws that are must be understood.

The Summer Educational Series focusing on specifically the rule changes will be broken down into 4 sessions as shown below, culminating with a live Q&A session that will encompass all the rule changes for the 2020 season. All sessions are scheduled for 1 hour in duration. They will be recorded and uploaded to NISOA’s YouTube Channel for later viewing.

In addition to the sessions above, NISOA and ECSR have teamed up to joint host 2 webinars starting on June 20, 2020 at 5:00 PM EDT and August 2, 2020  at 11:00 AM EDT. These webinars will be roughly 2 hours in length. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the ever-changing collegiate soccer landscape from Power 5 Conference Assignors.

Additionally, later this summer, Amanda Ross, National Director of Assessments, will be hosting webinars on July 15 & August 5, focusing on recertification for our Regional and National Assessors.

Also available for our membership will be educational webinars focusing on various development topics presented by some of the top referees and instructors within the soccer referee community such as Alex Prus, Corey Rockwell, Mark Kadlecik, and Ted Unkel. These webinars will be no more than 90 minutes in duration. Dates for these educational opportunities are as follows:

Registration for all of the educational opportunities can be found using the link below:

2020 NISOA Summer Educational Series Registration Portal

You will receive additional logistical information 1 week prior to the registered educational opportunity(ies). Our goal is to fully prepare the membership in anticipation for the start of the season. We strongly encourage our membership to take advantage of the 4 live sessions, the joint hosting webinars, and the topic focused educational webinars mentioned above.

Special “thank you” to our friends at Neverends Production, NISOA’s official broadcast partner, for the logistical support with our Summer Educational Series.

As previously announced by President Gary Huber, attendance at each of the sessions focusing on the rule changes will satisfy your local chapter preseason rules presentation. We hope the membership takes advantage of our extensive Summer Educational series and we look forward to “virtually seeing” everyone on June 20, 2020

Dr. Todd K. Abraham, NISOA Senior Director of Instruction