REFNEXT - The Referee Podcast

USSF National Referee, Alejo Calume, from the United States officates in various professional leagues and competitions in the US like the US Open Cup, USL Championship, USL League One, NISA and MLS NEXT PRO. 

PRO and Ex-FIFA referee, Carol Anne Chenard, from Canada refereed at the top international level for several years including in several Concacaf and FIFA events and the Olympics. She currently works as a video assistant referee in the MLS.

James Perryman has been refereeing since 2012 and is currently a regional referee. He has been an assignor, SDI and DRA in Alaska and was the President for the Anchorage Soccer Referee Association from 2017 to 2019. He spoke about how his way of thinking about refereeing has changed from when he started, his unique skills that have made him successful as a referee and the people who have helped him get to the level he has reached today.

Brian Johnson has been a grassroots referee in the United States for over 8 years refereeing a wide range of games from MLS Next to Semi-Professional matches. He rose to fame on Tiktok where his account @refereepov grew to have over 400 thousand followers with his educational refereeing videos going viral on the short video platform. He explained his strategy and how he grew to become so big on social media, meeting fans while refereeing and helpful advice for young referees.

Rubiel Vazquez has been refereeing in the MLS since 2017 and was listed on the FIFA panel in 2020. He has been the 4th official for the 2019 MLS Cup, 2020 Concacaf League Final, 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup and on the whistle for the 2021 USL Championship Final. He talked about why he decided to become a PRO referee, the sacrifices he had to make along the way, his MLS debut and misunderstood aspects of refereeing.