Three years ago, Senior, Aidan Riordon started refereeing soccer because he needed a job and it paid well. “But once I started, I realized I enjoyed the job itself, not just the money,” he comments.

Despite only being a senior, Riordon referees all the way up to U19 leagues. Riordon is one of very few referees his age, “I don’t think many of them (other young referees) want to continue it throughout their lives,” he adds. He plans to referee at the college level and maybe even minor league soccer if he gets the opportunity. “A majority of the refs are older, which means there is about to be a huge shortage of referees if we don’t start getting people!” he exclaims.

A big part of being a referee is dealing with the parents. While some might suspect that the older kid’s parents would be more extreme, according to Riordon, that is not the case. Once while working a U9 game in Fallston, he had to kick out a coach from the game for multiple reasons. The coach “left the field, went to his car, came back in different clothes, and tried to coach like I didn’t know who he was!” explains Riordon. “In addition, a few weeks ago, I was told I should be in the ‘Hall of Fame for worst referees,’ because I gave a red card to this kid who couldn’t stop dropping the “F” bomb,” says Riordon. He has learned to deal with the parents, “in the end, if people are getting out of control, it’s because their kid’s team is getting crushed.”

Riordon is currently a grade 8 referee which is the starting grade for referees and while most refs don’t bother upgrading (the grades go all the way up to grade 1), he is about to earn his grade 7 license as he starts his third year. He will be qualified after attending a class this month and taking a fitness test. “By being a grade 7, I’ll be eligible for any amateur level game and even some adult games. For me though, I’ll just be doing higher level club games, high school ball, and college club,” explains Riordon.

Riordon’s favorite part about his job is when he gets to travel to referee tournaments because of the benefits, “they will give you free hotel rooms and food throughout the tournament, so it doesn’t get better than that,” he comments. He’s refed in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. During this school year he will be going to Disney World to ref at the ESPN Sports Complex and they will even pay for his flight. In the summer he had the opportunity to referee sand soccer in Ocean City, Maryland. He enjoys being able to work at different venues and have different teams to watch. Another favorite part is in indoor, teams will sometimes play themselves since they split their team in half so that they can put two teams in the league and when this happens Riordon gets to play goalie for them while he still gets paid!

Riordon already has plans for the upcoming seasons as he will be doing Maryland State Cup games in the spring, a very competitive tournament with skilled teams. In the fall, he’ll be refing high school games, “I doubt I’ll get any games at North Harford,” he says since he’s been officiating a lot of higher age groups recently, even some college showcase tournaments.

Being a ref, Riordon has learned to “not let people walk all over me and not take crap from anyone. I have always been shy around strangers, so when I ref, I try to be more outgoing and talk to the coaches and players,” he comments.