People are still used to seeing referees step out onto the field in neat clothes, with serious faces and controlling the match. And then you can easily criticize them for a few mistakes in the match. But the profession is not that simple, especially for those who have to work in a top-notch environment. Female assistant referee Brooke Mayo shares the hidden corners full of sweat and tears of this profession that is inherently a burden to everyone.
To prepare for 90 minutes of the match, refereeing requires a rigorous operating process no less than top athletes. Before each match, the entire refereeing team must go through heavy physical training sessions, hours of brainstorming with tactical experts to dissect diagrams, read the playing style of each team. Even when the final whistle has sounded, the pressure has not stopped. That is a series of hours of self-haunting, reviewing each decision under the "microscope" of the supervisory board and public opinion.
For male referees, the pressure is already high, for women like Mayo, Tori Penso or Kathryn Nesbitt, the difficulty is even multiplied. That is the heartbreaking and instinctive trade-off of women: missing most of the special milestones of the family, postponing weddings seasonally, and even having to give up a stable teaching job for 10 years in exchange for flights. In their early days in the profession, they had to spend their own money to travel, investing in themselves without any guarantee of the future.
Not to mention, gender stereotypes are always an invisible but sometimes harsh barrier. When a woman appears in a world full of men, her performance is immediately put under pressure to be perfect. Because they understand that each small mistake of theirs not only affects the match, but can also be an opportunity for many female colleagues in the future.
Referees, in the end, are also people in the rhythm of football, all need to make efforts, strive, learn, and develop themselves like any other job.
