Recently I had the privilege of representing Canada as a referee in the World University (FISU) Games in Daegu, a city 250 km southeast of Soeul. I was pleased that Gerry Proctor (from Vancouver) was also attending the games — it was helpful to have a more experienced peer, especially since he had been to Bejing, host of the previous FISU Games.

My flights to Daegu were uneventful though it took over 30 hours of travel to arrive at my hotel (2nd rate at best). Upon arriving, at 2 am local time (1 pm for those of us in eastern Ontario), I was immediately informed that we would meet in the lobby at 6:30 for a 7 am fitness session. We had a rainy day for our fitness test with an inch of water in the corners. Despite the circumstances Gerry and I easily met the requirements, though a couple of our fellow referees did not run 2700m. (I wonder if this will be the last Cooper test that I run.)

I refereed both men’s and women’s games. My first game was a women’s match between Germany and an incredibly dominant team from North Korea. There were about 6,000 spectators and about 200 police and SWAT-team members, replete with sub-machine guns. We had our bags inspected and were required to pass through a metal detector, but were otherwise not affected by the tight security. North Korea won 6 – 0 and ultimately won the gold medal.

My other two matches were both on the men’s side. One game was between Thailand and Ireland the other was South Korea and South Africa. The second game in particular was a pleasure to referee. For the most part players behaved in a gentlemanly fashion and the spirited South Africans lost 2 – 1. One of the highlights of this game occurred in the tunnel prior to the game starting. The South Africans, much to the dismay of their Korean opponents, sang in great loud, booming voices for the entire time prior to the walkout. Rhythmic, spirited and with great passion they sang their team chants. During the game they played with true sportsmanship. Fittingly, they won the fair play award.

The level of competition was comparable in skill level to the A-League. They had better ball skills but less physical presence than the majority of the A-League teams. Assessments were essentially non-existent. Assessors typically gave a verbal ‘very good’ and not much more. Despite repeated requests we were unable to get more detailed feedback and were not given written assessments. This was unfortunate.

One of the most beneficial aspects of the tournament was the interaction with fellow officials from across Europe, Asia, Oceana and Africa. It was interesting to hear about referee programs in other nations.

The level of commitment required by our families and coworkers once again impressed me. This trip would not have been possible without the support of my wife and the babysitting assistance from our parents.

During the warm-up for the game between North Korea and Germany I happened to glance towards the scoreboard and saw my name with the letters ‘CAN’ immediately adjacent. It was quite a feeling. After 16 years of refereeing throughout Ontario and some other games across Canada I was at an international tournament as a Canadian representative. This was an added element of pressure but also an extra feeling of satisfaction with successful performances. I hope that more of us will experience this.

Sincerely submitted, Steven DePiero