Peter Stilling had the best seat in the house to see Real Salt Lake play the New England Revolution Sept. 4. He was the referee.
Stilling, who works as a telecommunications analyst at BYU-Idaho, is also a certified professional soccer referee. Stilling said that officiating, especially at the professional level, is a free ticket to a good game. “What a joy to be that close to players of that talent,” Stilling said.
He began playing soccer at four and has been around the game ever since as a player, a coach and as a referee for the last 18 years.
After refereeing at both the district level and the state level, the State Referee Administrator recommended he go to a professional referee clinic in Seattle, which was “very much an honor,” Stilling said.
In Seattle he passed a fitness test, a field test and a written test, which certified him as a professional ref.
To ref professionally there are certain fitness standards that need to be maintained. To be on the professional circuit Stilling needs to be able to cover 2,700 meters in a 12-minute run known as the Cooper Test.
“In reality you have to do 3,000 meters, although there is a tribal standard that unless you’re doing 3,200 meters, you’re just not one of the elite,” Stilling said. “I am one of the tribal group which is important for me because I’m from Rexburg.”
This separates those who are training from those who aren’t. Stilling trains five days a week and practices with the Madison Dragons, the men’s club team he coaches here in Rexburg.
There is a certain amount of pressure involved in being a referee — if people don’t like a call, the blame often falls on the official, however, “you reach a certain point in your career where the stress is there, but it’s a different type of stress,” Stilling said.
“It’s more of ‘do I have the proper feel for this game? Am I serving the game the way the game should be served? Am I doing the players justice?’” Stilling said.
One of the things Stilling enjoys most about being a referee is having players come up to him after the game and tell him he did a good job.
“Professionals can get caught up in the game, but when it’s over, it’s over,” Stilling said. “They call it the gentlemen’s sport, and it truly is.”
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