2000 miles from Robbie Keane and LA Galaxy's home turf and 800 miles from the home of the NY Red Bulls and Thierry Henry on a quiet summers day in the biblebelt, Mike Smith polishes his whistle and prepares for another Sunday keeping American soccer games calm and in control.
Q1.What got you into refereeing? My oldest daughter was picked up to play keeper for a select team. She wanted to ref when she wasn't playing and I took the course with her since I would be taking her to matches anyway. Opportunities opened up and I now ref rec, USSF and high school matches.
Q2, what do people say to you in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama when you tell them you referee not High School Football? In the south, football has a religious following. Except for the prep schools, soccer is still relatively new and misunderstood, but it is starting to get a following. I get picked at a bit and asked why I would choose to ref soccer and not football. My answer is that I have come to love the game and want to see others enjoy it too. I enjoy High School football, but it has plenty of capable people to support it. I want to be apart of soccer becoming popular and I want to be good as a ref so that fairness is ensured and players and fans have a good experience.
Q3,what do you find most rewarding about your job? Working with the players and helping them to understand the rules. Even in high level league play and high school games, players always understand all the laws of the game, (sometimes they do and try to play ignorant) and my training enables me to know the right call to make and how to explain it to them if needed. I enjoy the health I have to keep up and be in the right positions to make the calls.
Q4, what advice would you pass on to americans north, central and south about playing the beautiful game? In the 8 years that I have really gotten involved in soccer, the biggest problem I see players have is a lack of touch. Passes are inconsistent and difficult to control simply because they haven't had the ball at their feet enough to learn touch and control. This leads players to play "runningback" soccer where they charge down the field until they either lose it or foul. I encourage players just to walk, jog and run dribbling the ball. Standing still, just move it around, learn how it responds. I also advise people to look soccer on television. Americans tend to like high scoring sports and think soccer dull, simply because the scores tend to be low. A nil-nil game in soccer has often been an incredible match, but Americans fail to see the movement and life that the game has had. The USWNT (US Women's National Team) has done an awesome job opening the nations eyes to the sport. I've had people tell me that even though don't understand it, they look the ladies and think its fun.
Q5, highlight of your career so far? Highlight of my career is tough. I've reffed premier league and division 1 matches, high school playoffs, tournaments and rec. There are very few games that I have not enjoyed. Since my daughter played keeper, I have a special place for them. In a girls high school playoff last season, the underdog team's keep just kept making one incredible reflex save after another. Her team's roster was limited due to injuries and they had a hard time getting out of their half, but she kept her spirit up and encouraged and led her team valiantly, though they lost by several goals. It was a good match to be a part of because of her and her abilities to keep the score down and to never lose hope.
Smith is a graduate of Bledsoe County High School,TN and Western Governor's University in Utah.