{"id":60172,"date":"2012-06-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-nursing-major-gets-shot-at-pro-soccer-as-referee\/"},"modified":"2012-06-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-14T00:00:00","slug":"uri-nursing-major-gets-shot-at-pro-soccer-as-referee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2012\/06\/uri-nursing-major-gets-shot-at-pro-soccer-as-referee\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 nursing major gets shot at pro soccer as referee"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tCumberland resident named R.I.\u2019s top female ref since 2007<\/p>\n


\n\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 14, 2012 \u2013 Don\u2019t be surprised if you see Cumberland\u2019s Krista McCann someday refereeing a Major League Soccer match or even an international match between the American women\u2019s national team and Brazil.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe junior 溏心vlog免费B站 nursing student has already cracked the Women\u2019s Professional Soccer League-Elite by officiating a late May contest between the Boston Breakers and the Western New York Flash. The WPSL-Elite is the top women\u2019s league in the country.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI was shocked to be selected as a referee for that match,\u201d said McCann, who began officiating soccer games when she was 12. \u201cIt was a great atmosphere with 2,500 excited fans jammed into Dilboy Stadium\u201d in Somerville, Mass.<\/p>\n


\nMcCann served as one of the two assistant referees, who run the sidelines in support of the center (lead) referee, who is the crew chief.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI was nervous, but it was awesome,\u201d McCann said. \u201cI felt our crew did a great job. Sure, I got some grief from the fans, but you have to expect that.\u201d


\n\tA member of Cumberland High School\u2019s class of 2009 where she earned membership in the National Honor Society, McCann has a 3.3 grade point average at 溏心vlog免费B站 and is a member of Phi Eta Sigma, the national honor society for college freshmen, and the National Society of Scholars.<\/p>\n


\n\tShe has remained a strong academic performer even as she has traveled to numerous states for the past two years refereeing some of the biggest youth and amateur soccer tournaments in the country.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cMy goal is to become a FIFA (F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de Football Association, soccer\u2019s world governing body) referee,\u201d McCann said. \u201cBut I have to do many more games and get extensive training.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tShe is a Grade 6 referee, but FIFA requires Grade 1 status. If she reaches the top level, she would be eligible to referee top pro and international matches.<\/p>\n


\n\tBut don\u2019t put such an achievement past her. Her love of the game began with the Cumberland Youth Soccer Association and continued with Club Lusitana, one of the state\u2019s storied ethnic soccer clubs, and Tidal Wave in Rehoboth, Mass.<\/p>\n


\n\tDuring those early days with Cumberland, the former president, Joseph Carreiro, was McCann\u2019s first coach. He noticed that she was always at the fields and asked if she wanted to be a referee. He told her she could make some money.<\/p>\n

Donning her referee\u2019s uniform at age 12, she worked three kids\u2019 games a day on weekends and made $7 for each contest.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cMost people are afraid to be a referee because players and fans yell at them,\u201d said McCann, who was also captain and a star on the Cumberland High School track team. \u201cBut I liked being a leader, and I always had a thick skin. Plus, as a 12-year-old, I liked the money.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tAs she wound down her soccer playing commitment in high school to focus on track, she also became very busy in her refereeing role. She called games in the Massachusetts Premier League and the Rhode Island Super Liga.<\/p>\n


\n\tSince coming to 溏心vlog免费B站, she has been officiating Rhode Island high school girls soccer. And now she is also assigned to the U.S.A. Men\u2019s Amateur League in Rhode Island.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI have to thank Mike Forte, a referee assigner for taking me under his wing and getting me these great opportunities. I have done hundreds of matches since I was a girl, and I think I have been on every field in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tWhen she is on the road with other referees, they\u2019ll often gather at a local restaurant to catch an international or premier club match on television. \u201cWe don\u2019t watch the players. We watch the refs, because that is how you learn different tactics and how to manage a game. The referee community is like a big family.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tAt the end of her high school year, she was asked to attend the Pro Clinic as part of the U.S. Soccer Training Seminar at Stonehill College. Before she even started, she had to pass a fitness test, and then it was on to two days of intense referee education.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cAt 17, I was the youngest one there and one of only six girls,\u201d McCann said. \u201cBy attending these each year, you get put in a national referee data base.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tAfter that clinic, she was assigned her first men\u2019s Premier Development League game with the now-defunct Rhode Island Stingrays.<\/p>\n

Late that spring as a high school senior, she worked the Olympic Development Program\u2019s Ryder Cup in New Jersey.<\/p>\n


\n\tThat summer, she was assigned the U.S. Youth Soccer Under 17 championships, an all-expense-paid trip to West Virginia.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI started branching out more and more,\u201d McCann said. \u201cAnd as I did more tournaments, coaches and other soccer folks started saying, \u2018I remember that girl.\u2019<\/p>\n


\n\u201cOne of my biggest accomplishments was being selected to attend the U.S. Development Academy Showcase in Frisco, Texas in June 2011. This is the highest level of youth soccer in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPerhaps she is recognized not only for her refereeing skills, but her attitude. McCann always walks onto the field with a smile and eagerly greets coaches and talks casually with them. It never looks like a chore for McCann even when she has to get tough with players, fans and parents.<\/p>\n


\nWhen she arrived at 溏心vlog免费B站, she thought about trying out for track, but with the rigors of the nursing program, she didn\u2019t think she could keep up with her studies, track and soccer refereeing.<\/p>\n


\n\tAs she aims to become a FIFA-certified official, she knows it will never pay enough to be a full-time career. So she is focusing on her nursing program, in which she is now in the midst of her clinical rotations. So far, she has completed geriatric, medical-surgical and maternity rotations.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI saw my first baby being born, and it took my breath away,\u201d McCann said. \u201cIt was an amazing privilege. It was so special that the mom allowed me to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above<\/p>\n


\nEAGLE EYE: Assistant referee Krista McCann patrols the field during a recent Boston Breakers Boston-Western New York Flash soccer match in Somerville, Mass. 溏心vlog免费B站 photo by Stew Milne\/Giblin & company<\/p>\n


\nOFFSIDE: Cumberland\u2019s Krista McCann, makes and offside call during a recent Boston Breaks match. 溏心vlog免费B站 photo by Stew Milne\/Giblin & company<\/p>\n


\nEYE ON THE BALL: Krista McCann, a 溏心vlog免费B站 nursing student, focuses on the action in her first appearance as a referee in the Women\u2019s Professional Soccer League-Elite. 溏心vlog免费B站 photo by Stew Milne\/Giblin & company<\/p>\n


\nDECIDING WHO KICKS OFF: Assistant referee Krista McCann, at left among the referees, participates in the coin flip to decide whether the Boston Breakers or the Western New York Flash kick off. 溏心vlog免费B站 photo by Stew Milne\/Giblin & company<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cumberland resident named R.I.\u2019s top female ref since 2007 KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 14, 2012 \u2013 Don\u2019t be surprised if you see Cumberland\u2019s Krista McCann someday refereeing a Major League Soccer match or even an international match between the American women\u2019s national team and Brazil. The junior 溏心vlog免费B站 nursing student […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}