News and Features

2025-03-13

SRA Richard Frongillo announces the appointment of Paul Athanasiadis of Lexington as the new State Director of Assessment (SDA). Paul has been a servent of the beautiful game as a referee, coach, instructor, and assessor for more than three decades. A champion of referee development, Paul will be a tremendous asset to our community. Read more about Paul. Paul steps into the role held by Elie Nassif who had long been doing double duty as SDA and State Youth Referee Administrator (SYRA).

2025-02-25

SRA Richard Frongillo announces the resignation of Kara Honthumb of Dartmouth. Kara had served as the State Director of Instruction in Massachusetts for four years. In her time she transformed the educational engine: embraced virtual learning, made practical, on-field sessions a compulsory element for new referee candidates, created topic-based content for recertification, and much more.

Kara joins the US Soccer Refereeing Department as Manager, Refereeing Education & Development! She has an opportunity to help many more referees in this new role and we wish her the best!

2025-02-07

The MSRC held its awards dinner on February 7, 2025 at the Marlborough Country Club. The program included a talk by special guest Ted Unkel, a retired FIFA and long-time professional referee in MLS.

National Referee Ian McKay was called on to recognize the retirement from the field of longtime National and PRO referee Claudiu Badea.

2024 Award Winners

• Melissa Cerioni, Young Female Referee of the Year
• Dawood Atanane, Young Male Referee of the Year
• Franzi Hoene, Youth Futsal Referee of the Year
• James Talbot, Adult Futsal Referee of the Year
• Shaye Lane, Adult Referee of the Year
• Michael Creane, William R. Murphy Administrator of the Year
• Meghan Litten, Charlie van Nederpelt Mentor of the Year
• Randall Kelley, Steven A. Kokolski Assessor of the Year
• Gesse Faber, Richard M. Filippetti Assignor of the Year
• Beth Lepore, John H. Weil Instructor of the Year
• Micahel Hinds, Selfless Service
• Dwight Dyce, Solid Citizen
• Jeff Chambers, Bill Flannery Award in support of youth soccer
• John Luk, Angelo Bratsis Award for Refereeing Excellence

Congratulations to all of the winners!

2024-02-02

The MSRC held its awards dinner on February 2, 2024 at the Marlborough Country Club. The program include a talk by special guest Dr. Carol Anne Chenard, an accomplished and former FIFA Referee from Canada. Dr. Chenard spoke of her professional and personal story and offered advice gleaned from her own experiences.

State Referee Administrator Richard Frongillo recognized and thanked the tremendous staff of MSRC including Executive Assistant Diana McKee and Administrative Assistant Stephanie Reynoso as well as the "S-People" SYRA Elie Nassif, State Director of Assignment Fred Corey, State Director of Mentoring Kevin Suares, and State Director of Instruction Kara Honthumb. Rich recognized several accomplished referees who were present including former FIFA referees Dilvo DiPlacido, Rachel Woo, and Thomas Supple.

After dinner longtime National and MLS referee Claudiu Badea gave a short presentation about the pathway to becoming a National and PRO refereee. He offered his own advice about how to best navigate the journey. Both he and Dr. Chenard highlighted the need to surround oneself with great people. Claudiu presented a gift to each of this year's national group of officials: Ian McKay, Adam Kilpatrick, Eric Schreiber, Jessica Carnevale, John Luk, Stearne Briem, and Tom Supple.

Starting this year the MSRC has named its Mentor of the Year in honor of Charlie van Nederpelt who has mentored hundreds of referees over his long and accomplished career. Charlie was recognized by US Soccer in 2014 as a recipient of the William Scofield Award. 2023 MLS Assistant Referee of the Year Ian McKay spoke of Charlie's contribution to his own career. We were so pleased to have Charlie and Karen van Nederpelt join us for this event.

In addition, this year marked the first presentation of the Angelo Bratsis Award for Refereeing Excellence. Angelo's contributions to referee development in Massachusetts, in US Soccer, and beyond are innumerable. In 1993, Angelo was recognized by US Soccer as a recipient of the Eddie Pearson Award. The MSRC is pleased to start this new tradition by recognizing an referee who demonstrates excellence in refereeing, and pleased, too, that Mrs. Ida Bratsis was able to join in the presentation along with MASS State President Andy Weiss.

2023 Award Winners

• Kourosh Farboodmanesh, Youth Futsal Referee of the Year
• Ilir Lecaj, Adult Futsal Referee of the Year
• Riley Larsen, Young Female Referee of the Year
• Andrew Currier, Young Male Referee of the Year
• David Vishniac, Adult Referee of the Year
• Christianne Mager, William R. Murphy Administrator of the Year
• Ed Wolf, Richard M. Filippetti Assignor of the Year
• Scott Kachmarik, John H. Weil Instructor of the Year
• Nat Alderman, Charlie van Nederpelt Mentor of the Year
• Jessica Carnevale, Angelo Bratsis Award for Refereeing Excellence

Congratulations to all of the winners!

2023-10-11

SYRA Elie Nassif Announces Young Referees of the Year

Female Youth Referee of the year 2023: Riley Larson

Riley started playing soccer at the age of four. She loves the game and has developed quite a competitive spirit. She started refereeing at age 12 and was first certified as a USSF referee at age 14. She appreciates the alternate perspective on The Game that refereeing provides. Soccer in general and refereeing in particular has helped make her more confident and taught her discipline and fairness. Refereeing has also taught Riley to think and react quickly and responsibly while rapidly interpreting what she is observing. They have further developed her moral and ethical behavior as well as her respectful demeanor toward everyone. She feels these important qualities and skills have also helped her off the pitch in her everyday life where she applies the same attention and passion to her studies, family and friendships.

To help improve her refereeing skills, she seeks the advice of mentors and more experienced referees.

As a young teenager, Riley helped run skills drills and camps for the youngest age groups in her town. She is currently a town mentor in her town's Genesis Referee Program (a State organized program that provides real game experiences for young aspiring referees). She supports instructors and more experienced mentor by demonstrating refereeing basic skills. She believes that if young aspiring referees see someone close to their age in the role of mentor, it will increase their interest and help with the retention gap.

Riley is very active in her town's soccer league. She uses her experience as a captain of her sports teams to help organize activities for local youth organizations. She is Starting her First year at Rhode Island University and is looking forward to continuing her soccer officiating career.

Male Youth Referee of the year 2023: Andrew Currier

Andrew has been involved with soccer at the age of four through Attleboro Youth Soccer, and has been playing ever since. Soccer helped him develop his leadership skills which helped him to be more involved in the community and demonstrate sportsmanship and ethical behaviors. Refereeing also taught him to demonstrate professionalism and respect towards others.

He watches and studies Pro Referees' "Inside Video Reviews" on a regular basis, studies the game by watching other referees and implementing some of their successful strategies, seeks mentoring advice as well as the input of more advanced referees.

Andrew is a counselor for Camp Manitou, which is a week-long summer soccer camp in Maine. As a counselor, he runs exercises and training sessions for the kids to help improve their skills, such as dribbling, passing, and shooting. He mentors younger referees in his town and is extremely proud of his leadership role at the camps because, in his words, "I am happy to promote The Game and help inspire the next generation of players and referees."

In high school, Andrew is a member of the National Honor Society. He is also a member of the National Art Honor Society where the group created professional stained glass windows that were in"stalled into doors of the staff members' offices. During the summers, Andrew is a camp counselor at the local YMCA where he works with underserved and socially challenged children. He creates fun, safe activities that promote good character. He is most proud of the connections he makes and the positive influence he has on their lives especially when he observes them putting into practice his advice to positively affect their lives.

2023-02-05

The MSRC held its awards dinner on February 5, 2023 at the Marlborough Country Club. The program began with a short video remembering some friends of the referee community that had passed away over the last few years since our last ceremony — Chuck Concordia, Marwan Ghabour, Charles, Cross, Angelo Cassenelli, Angelo Bratsis, Tom Heinz, Emmanuel "Mike" Kapalis, and Sherman Whipple. State Youth Referee Administrator (SYRA) Elie Nassif shared the words of Ray Halleran who offered a tribute to our friend Tom Heinz. Mass Adult State Soccer President Andy Weiss offered his own rememberances in honoring Angelo Bratsis who had such a tremendous impact on refereeing in Massachusetts, the United States, and beyond.

State Referee Administrator Richard Frongillo recognized and thanked the tremendous staff of MSRC including Executive Assistant Diana McKee and Administrative Assistant Stephanie Reynoso as well as the "S-People" SYRA Elie Nassif, State Director of Assignment Fred Corey, State Director of Mentoring Kevin Suares, and State Director of Instruction Kara Honthumb. Rich recognized several accomplished referees who were present including former FIFA referees Dilvo DiPlacido, Rachel Woo, and Thomas Supple.

Award Winners

• Felipe Cerioni, Young Male Referee of the Year
• Janelle Murphy, Young Female Referee of the Year
• John Cowles, Adult Referee of the Year
• Michael Champagne, Futsal Referee of the Year
• Joseph Santos, William R. Murphy Administrator of the Year
• Leslie Waguespack, Mentor of the Year
• Stephen DiLeo, Richard M. Filippetti Assignor of the Year
• Jeffrey Heinze, John H. Weil Instructor of the Year
• Nigel Gayle, Selfless Service Award

Congratulations to all of the winners! Thank you to MSRC Futsal Administrator Soorena Farboodmanesh for making the extra effort to attend and present the award for futsal.

2022-06-28

Massachusetts sent a terrific group of referees and mentors to the East Region Finals. From the group, the East Region has selected the following Massachusetts referees to attend the NCS Nationals in Florida:

• Adam Cook
• Shaye Lane
• Joe Connolly
• Stephanie MacFarland (Returning Referee)
• Sam Conroy
• Elizabeth "Libby" McDonald
• Tomás Leyton-Nolan

We are proud of how the entire delegation performed in West Virginia and wish these seven officials well!

2021-12-15

SRA Richard Frongillo announces that long-time State Youth Referee Administrator (SYRA) Russ Wolf has stepped down. Russ has served the referee community well and his daily involvement will be missed. Elie Nassif of Attleboro has been appointed as the new State Youth Referee Administrator (SYRA). Elie slides over from the role of State Director of Assessment (SDA) that he has held this past year. The SYRA is a joint appointment between Mass Youth Soccer Association and the SRA. See the announcement from Mass Youth Soccer President below:

2021-11-25

SDI Kara Honthumb and SRA Richard Frongillo announce the framework for Recertification 2022. Course offerings have been posted, and each referee's profile has been enhanced to allow for tracking of requirements.

2021-06-16

SRA Richard Frongillo announces the appointment of Kevin Suares of Dartmouth as the new State Director of Mentoring. Kevin has spent many years supporting and developing referees in many capacities and in multiple states. We are fortunate to have Kevin in Massachusetts with his boundless enthusiasm and great ideas, and we look forward to seeing what Kevin can accomplish in this very important role. You can read more about Kevin on our staff page.

2021-05-01

The referee world has been shaken today with the loss off Angelo Bratsis who passed away after battling COVID for an extended time. We grieve with Angelo's family and send them our deepest condolences. Angelo Bratsis Obituary.

2021-03-29

Live Chat will be available on a trial basis as we continue to try to improve the ways that we can assist referees through their certification and recertification program. Look for the chat icon on the bottom-right of the website; when it is there, we are open for Live Chat business! Click on the icon to get started! We are a small staff, so if your question will require some significant investigation, we will follow up through email.

2021-03-14

Video (1:51) introducing new information in everyone's MSRC profile indicating status of one's Supplemental Courses from US Soccer Learning Center.

2021-03-10

Video (3:32) giving a tutorial on how to access the new, required Supplemental Courses within the US Soccer Learning Center.

2021-03-08

Today we launch our renovated website! We hope you enjoy the updated look! Some particular notes of interest about the new site:

• MSRC Central is the database side of the MSRC website that includes all things related to our dynamic data — referee profiles, course schedules and management, assignor access, etc.
• To log in to your MSRC account, click on the icon in the top-right of this page!
• The new Referee Grades page explains the evolution and status of referee grades which have undergone major changes.
• With more focus on safety and online education, the process of certification and recertification of referees has been dramatically modified. The new Steps to Become a Referee and updated Recertification FAQ list the requirements which now include Supplemental Courses from US Soccer.
• The MSRC 2021 Meeting Schedule has been posted. Look for the "Town Hall" meetings being held quarterly.

We know of more information we want to include on the website as we move forward. If you have suggestions, please contact us.

2021-03-01

SRA Richard Frongillo announces the appointment of Elie Nassif of Attleboro as the new State Director of Assessment (SDA). Elie has held several roles in support of referee development. Since 2017 he has served as MSRC Director of Mentoring and was a creator of the Massachusetts Genesis Referee Program (GRP). We are pleased to have Elie's forces of honesty, integrity, and dedication in our midst.

SRA Richard Frongillo announces the appointment of Fred Corey of Methuen as the new State Director of Assignment a.k.a. State Assignor Coordinator (SAC). Fred has served the game in several roles including working on the MSRC as an Area Referee Administrator (ARA) since 2008. Knowing of his strong communication and organizational skills we look forward to all that Fred will accomplish in his new role.

2021-01-27

At the first MSRC meeting of 2021 SRA Richard Frongillo announces the appointment of Kara Honthumb of Dartmouth as the new State Director of Instruction (SDI). Kara has been a National Referee coach with US Soccer since 2019. In 2020, she was selected by US Soccer to attend the FIFA Member Association Instructors Course and was also chosen to instruct at the Member Association seminars in 2020 for select US Soccer National Referees and Referee Coaches. The MSRC and the referees of our state are fortunate to have Kara sharing her passion for referee development.

2021-01-17

2020-12-15

Mass Youth Soccer President Bob Trudeau announces the reappointment of Russ Wolf of Watertown as State Youth Referee Administrator (SYRA). Russ was lauded for his outstanding service to the MSRC, overall support to the youth referee community, and his extensive efforts to identify high potential officials for development and advancement as well as the positive relationships he has established with affiliated youth leagues. The appointment is a two-year term to December, 2022.

2020-11-28

Mass Youth Soccer President Bob Trudeau and Mass Adult Soccer President Andy Weiss announce the appointment of a new State Referee Administrator (SRA) in a note to the Massachusetts soccer community: