CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — With Denver Summit FC calling the Mile High home, soccer is soaring throughout Colorado. Beyond the excitement on the pitch, there's a critical need off it, with one Castle Rock school stepping up with a potential solution.
For the past three years, Renaissance Secondary School has offered a quarter-long referee certification program. Amy Stuart, the head of school, explained they opened the school in 2017 to serve students in grades 6 through 12.
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"We take electives and we kind of explore what it means to have an elective at a school," said Stuart. "You might typically have 3 or 4 things to choose from. You can do arts, you can do athletics, PE, and then also more academic blocks that really dive into a compelling topic."
Physical Education teacher Jessica Perkin played soccer for Santa Clara University and was on the youth national team in eighth grade. Not only is she passionate about the sport, but she understands the immense life skills also shared both on and off the field.
"Well, I've always thought that it would be awesome to do a referee program in schools because obviously there's a shortage of referees and I love the game of soccer," said Perkin. "I've played and I coached my whole life, and I’ve always thought about doing it."
The school is now in the third year of offering the ceritification program, which is also growing in size each season. Perkin explained the course first started with around five students and now has gone up to 25 kids.
"Our quarters are usually 8 to 10 weeks, so we're the first school to do a quarter-long course in Colorado and I just feel really thankful for all the support I've gotten, as I said, from the school here, to be open to the idea when I first brought it up and then when I made the call for for Diane and all the referees who came out to support the program," Perkin explained.
Students receive their certification online through the Colorado Soccer Association referee curriculum. Perkin explained she helps design the lesson plans outside of the online work like reviewing a penalty kick or rules of the game.
"What they do is they have an online program that they are signed up for and they do that work online and then on top of that we do outdoor classroom stuff, like I'll bring them out and work on penalty kicks or learning offsides, things like that. They get their certificate by completing the whole program, passing the test and then they receive their certificate," Perkin said.
Referee coach Jeff Arthurholtz helped develop the curriculum for the Colorado Soccer Association and worked with Perkin to ensure students were best supported. During a youth soccer tournament, Arthurholtz checked in on Arianna and Izabella Watts to ensure they felt ready making the calls on the pitch.
"This is that the proud parent moment, right? You see your student or you see your child out there and you really don't have any control over what they're doing or how the game is going for them, but at the same time, you trust in your instruction to them and their learning ability, and to be able to walk and go out there and be successful. There's nothing more exciting for us," Arthurholtz said.
While there is an immense need for referees throughout the state of Colorado, Arthurholtz knows this work is about something deeper: Encouraging a love for the game and teaching the next generation the responsibility that comes with the whistle.
"We're definitely looking to get into more schools to create a a buzz about becoming a referee, because let's admit it, we as referees have large targets on our back and in any sense that we go out and every time that we step out on the field, our goal is to minimize that target on our back by calling fouls and by speaking eloquently with our coaches and working with them," Arthurholtz said. "This is how we do that, how we accomplish that."
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** game played at DICK's Sporting Goods Park
other home matches scheduled to be played at Centennial Stadium