TT football officials active in CONCACAF

MATCH officials from this country – including referees, assistant referees and assessors – have been consistently involved in various competitions and events staged in the CONCACAF region in recent weeks.

In July, women’s referee Cecile Hinds was appointed to the CONCACAF Under 17 Women’s Championship at IMG Academy Florida, and officiated at one of the semi-finals. She also served as the fourth official at the third place qualifying match.

Men’s assistant referee Joseph Bertrand was also appointed to serve at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Barranquilla, Colombia. His performances earned him an appointment for the final between Colombia and Venezuela. Women’s referee Crystal Sobers was also appointed to the CAC Games and went as far as the semi-finals where she carried the whistle for Mexico’s 3-1 win over Venezuela.

Bertrand was also the assistant referee at the recent CONCACAF League of Sixteen match between Panama’s Arabe Unido and Portmore United in Kingston.

TT officials, referee Nicolai Nyron and assistant Kareem McMayo received appointments for the Caribbean Football Union Under 14 boys Challenge Series leg in Jamaica.

Coming up on September 21-23 in Costa Rica will be a CONCACAF Assessors Seminar for which TT’s Michael Ragoonath, Neil Brizan and Jaggernath Goolcharan have been invited by the confederation to attend.

Assistant referee Ainsley Rochard has been invited by the US Soccer Association to officiate at the September 7 international friendly between Guatemala and Ecuador at Toyota Park Bridgeville, USA.

Commenting on the work being done by referees such as herself, Hinds noted, “I think it’s a sign of progress being made by officials from TT who are receiving appointments and being offered the opportunity to officiate at the various levels in CONCACAF. Getting the chance to serve at the highest level is tremendous and will only serve to improve the standard of officiating in TT,” Hinds said.

“With regards to my selection at the CONCACAF U-17 Women (Championship) as an elite referee, it was an overwhelming and awesome experience,” she told TTFA Media.

“Before I left Trinidad I had to prepare by attending practical and theory sessions at the Ato Boldon Stadium.

The Championship itself was very time consuming. We had one hour training sessions every morning except for game-days. We also had pre-match and debriefings on game-days,” Hinds added.