Allison Preston: USports Official
It takes many people in different roles to make a sporting event happen. In addition to the players on the field, there are the sideline staff, game day supports, volunteers, and others who go unseen to allow the event to proceed. One group of people who are often hidden in plain sight are the on-field officials, the referees and linespeople who share the field with the players but none of the recognition. Today we talk to Allison Preston, one of the officials that provides referee support to the UofL USports games, among others in the community.
Allison, originally from Vauxhall, AB, has been involved in sports since school, and before officiating played a range of sports including volleyball, badminton, basketball and soccer. While in school she started soccer at 11, playing in the U12 division. “When I was old enough to start reffing soccer, I did. I reffed junior games at 14 back in 2004. That’s the earliest I remember doing it.” We asked Allison what went into the decision to make the jump from player to official. “A lot of it was my siblings had started playing soccer. There were not many refs in Vauxhall and the league was looking for family members, siblings, or anyone who could come out. So I would get out for my enjoyment but also so there were officials for my younger siblings.” Allison acknowledges that nowadays things are different and there is a more structured process to recruiting and assigning referees, but at the recreational level she started at her story was pretty common.
Allison worked as a referee, but didn’t give up her spot playing until she was an adult. Allison played soccer and volleyball in the Prairie Athletic Conference. She went to a small college in Saskatchewan and played around the equivalent of the ACAC level. She was out of reffing for a while during university, but came back to Lethbridge working fulltime and got back into reffing full time competitive games and that led to more college/university level games. She still helps out with the house league games when she’s available. For the years she was doing both, Allison found that reffing helped her game and vice versa. “I remember really enjoying learning about the finer points of the game and the whys and whatfores and whatever. I felt like that helped me in my own play style as a player, understanding what we could and could not do, could and could not get away with. It affects when you are doing your game prep and strategies.”
Between refereeing and playing, the last 18 months of COVID have been the longest break Allison has had from soccer since her teens. Being off felt strange, being back feels stranger she says. “COVID’s meant it’s been harder to play games and do everything. For myself it’s been kind of weird. Coming back this year it’s been really strange, I’ve had to work to get back in shape and remember how to do the job. Feeling out of practice and feeling like I’m not able to use my peripherals as much, I’m not quite as aware as the field and not quite as much “in it” as I used to be.” Our team can certainly relate to Allison on that point!
As one of the few women filling a role as a senior level referee in Southern Alberta, we asked Allison what the experience had been like for her. “As I got older I’ve found lots of enjoyment. I enjoyed getting to know the other refs and the teams because I came from such a small town. I got to see a lot of those kids grow up and honestly I like the senior level games and the challenge, but I want to come back to grassroots to see the kids grow up. You see people in a much more real sense when they’re in sport - winning losing, they experience all the range of emotions. As a ref you’re helping teach them.” For her own part, Allison credits the southern Alberta community for being very insulating from issues other female referees experience. “Other people have experienced some challenges. I never noticed a problem specifically because I was evolving in a small community where everyone knew who I was and who my parents were. If anyone would get out of line it would get around. Then by the time I started working in a bigger market, I was at a senior enough level the players and coaches knew better.” Allison served several years on Alberta Soccer’s Women’s Committee, and appreciated having an opportunity to talk, brainstorm, and address what other women officials were/are experiencing in the sport. “There’s a power balance and while I think some women have experienced problems and I may have but wasn’t necessarily aware of it; I’ve been hit on on the field and I’ve told players it isn’t appropriate, then they stop. I’ve had slurs thrown at me, not because of my gender but just in general. I’ve probably experienced more misogyny when I was at my desk job than I have as a referee.”
Allison also credits a group we have coined as the “Dazzle of Lethbridge” for her evolution as a referee. The Dazzle (the technical term for a group of zebras) are a tightly knit group of senior and retired referees who have gone out of their way to help her and other young referees evolve their game. “They’re this collection of older referees who come to the games, stick around afterwards to share their thoughts, and they do a bunch of mentoring.” All of the Dazzle members are fairly high up in their seniority. “Basically any mentoring you can get is good,” Allison acknowledges, “but those gentlemen were huge in developing my skills and my confidence as I went up to higher levels and got challenged more. Early after returning to Lethbridge I was in a game over my head. I didn’t have the skills or abilities for the level of game I was in. I got pulled aside after the game by three older and more mature referees. They pulled me aside and said it was ok, it was not my fault. They invited me and I went one day a week and watched their games and they talked to me about player and coaches management.”
Off the field, Allison is a former office administrator turned professional sheep shearer. She is thankful for the conflict resolution skills she has learned through years of officiating and how it helps her off the field. “How I respond to conflict has changed over the years.” Allison says. “There’s always a lot of adrenaline coming to play. When I was a younger player there was a big fight or flight response whenever I would get challenged. Canada Soccer is doing a good job of protecting youth referees, since young refs don’t have the emotional maturity to handle being yelled at by a parent or coach. Dealing with that is a skill on top of everything else. Like all skills someone’s going to do it different from another. Your own style – when to push back, ignore, respond - it’s not something you learn on your own. For myself I had a few teams I hated dealing with who are now my favorites because I understood how I was making it worse. These skills translate well to the workforce dealing with clients and others. Sometimes it’s not as easy because you don’t have the same authority but it is definitely a translatable skill. Of all the skills you can get, it’s the most important. If someone asked me if ‘I wanted to referee should I?’, I’d say yes and this is why.”
The Lethbridge Sports team appreciates Allison taking the time to talk to us about her experience as an official, and for her continued work supporting sports in Lethbridge both on and off the field.