The innocence of those other U-9 games were completely lost in this one. There were many fouls in the game and the comments made by the so-called adults during the match were rather sad.

In these games, the ref can be more of a teacher than an enforcer and I tried to emulate Willy Wonka (the Gene Wilder version).

What is it about the World Cup that arrests me so? What I am chasing every four years?

While I continue to grow older, the ages of those playing soccer remains the same. As a referee, I'm in the same boat as teachers in this regard.

I believe in the value of the FIFA 11 program to reduce ACL and lower extremity injury rates, and make better soccer players.