Bob Kanjian, President

Rudy Beckman, Vice President

Jim McGlone, Secretary

Nelson Kobren, Commissioner

Board Members

John De Freitus

Don Dennison

Walter Durkan

Basil Kalandros

Mike Keman

Rules Interpreters

Jim Allen (NFHSA)

Allan Lowe (NCAA)

Ulrich Strom (USSF)

Past Presidents of MWSRA

Hap Freeman

Buck Davidson

Nelson Kobren

Al Susha

Ron Surgen

Tony Stevens

Ed Reynolds

Dick Lafferty

Sam LaBeach

Jim Deveney

Pete Johnson

Dirk Van Der Loo

Larry  Morgan

Don Dennison

Peter Accolla

Bob Kanjian

 

 

Metropolitan Washington Soccer Referees Association

An Historical Presentation

1956 - 1986

In 1956 soccer was decidedly a minor sport to everyone except those who played it, to the players it was always major. The trouble was, there were so few participants and thus little incentive to improve individual skills. Schools didn't emphasize it, allocated practically no money toward furthering its popularity, and coaches mainly relied on their players to help them out with regard to strategy.

Soccer referees, accordingly, had little prestige in the community. Seeing one in uniform produced puzzlement, curiosity, and in some cases, pity. But no respect. It was a job neither sought after nor particularly rewarding.

Nevertheless, in that year of soccer anonymity, fledgling, unheralded Metropolitan Washington Soccer Referees Association was bom, though not under that name. If it had a name at all it was probably known as the D.C. Soccer Referees Association. It had no constitution or by-laws and apparently kept no records. It was later expanded to include Maryland and Virginia, and it drifted along nameless for some years. During Ron Surgen's administration, 1967 68, a constitution was drawn up and, after some discussion, the name was bestowed which we now know as MWSRA.

Still, under any title, it was a functioning organization. The original eight met for the first time in a back room at the University of Maryland, with Hap Freeman as chairman and acting first commissioner.

For the record, they were as follows:

The A Team - 1967 Version

Back Row, I to r. Heidenreich, Sutherland, Reider, Davidson, Pereda, Audiffem, Deveney. Front

Row.- Stevens, Palmer, Durkan, Neitzel, A. N. Other, Buhling

it: The way the games were assigned is interesting, as Nelson Kobren tells ,,Hap wrote all the games on a blackboard with the dates, from September

through November. Everybody signed his name opposite the games he wanted to work. That was it."

That system today would require blackboards from here to Falls Church. But, as in horses for courses, the group did what was necessary to make things work. In the absence of evidence to the contrary we have to imagine that attitudes on the soccer field, at least in this area, were a little more laid-back then. And we assume that spectators more or less accepted the official's word as law since they were a little hazy about the rules themselves. In fact, at one of those early school games a spectator was overheard remarking to a friend that "This could be a really good game if they made the goalposts the entire width of the field." (Cough, cough.)

The eight hardy pioneers were not exactly inundated with work. According to Kobren, each member worked about six or seven school games a season. As uniforms they wore black-and-white striped shirts and white knickers above the shoes of their choice. They were paid $12 for high school matches and about $15 for the infrequent college game. As a matter of interest and contrast, the other sex was not represented on the field of play, in the middle and probably not much on the sidelines.

Between scholastic seasons the referees could pick up a little time officiating senior amateur games. These were made up of loosely-knit teams sponsored by the various embassies in Washington, D.C., and requisitioning expatriates of various countries who were interested in playing soccer. They were the precursors of the National Soccer League 'and the various thriving amateur associations of today.

Two veterans, Buhling and Emekii, consider their options at Howard University.

As payment for these amateur games the officials received the proceeds from a hat that was passed around to players and friends. On a good day, again according to Kobren, a referee who didn't antagonize the crowd too much might make ten dollars.

[Note: Most players came from countries employing the three-man system of refereeing, and constantly advocated its adoption here. Only the shortage of manpower delayed its advent in amateur soccer. It arrived in the early 1960s.] One of the strongest advocates of the three-man system was one of the Association's founders, past president and top class official, Buck Davidson. Buck was one of the premier officials in the country during the late '50s and early'60s, and traveled from coast to coast working big games. Tall and ramrod straight even in his sixties, Davidson could be seen most Sundays at 16th and Kennedy Streets, handling the toughest assignments. And we're talking tough! He had a way of extracting teeth and nails out of the tooth-and-nails brigade that was omnipresent at every game in D.C.

(Editor's Note: He once saved this writer from an almost certain physical beating. Seeing an unruly and threatening crowd of spectators surrounding him after a game, he quickly "borrowed" a huge German shepherd from @ friend, nosed it through the mob and escorted him to his car.)

A stickler for tradition, Davidson believed referees should be appropriately and similarly dressed at all times. He frowned on longpants, hatsandscarves on the field, advising us thin -blooded, cold-rifed weaklings to "put a little olive oil on the knees, that's all you need." He evidently modified his position on this as he got older because the minutes of a 1969 meeting had him proposing long pants for linesmen in cold weather.

He retired to Costa Ricg because of back trouble in the early'70s, and died a couple of years later in that country. He was and is sorely missed.

15-year jacket men gather at ceremony in 1981.

Bobby Newby gets his Andre Broumas trophy from President Dirk Van Der'Loo in 1976.

The little association grew slowly, reaching about thirty members by the middle sixties. Only three of the founders were still active in the game: Nelson Kobren, Ed Rieder and Buck Davidson. Hap Freeman moved to Baltimore where presumably he still lives, Pershing Mondorf won a million dollars in the lottery and vanished out of sight, while the remaining three dropped from view. Stalwarts, however, took their place: Walter Durkan, Ron Surgen, Tony Stevens, Ed Reynolds, Bill Olmstead, Joe Buhling, Sam LaBeach, Dirk Van Der Loo, Herb Heidenreich, Tom and Jim Deveney, Ulrich Strom, Roland Oelberg . many of whose names, of course, are recognizable.

As late as 1970, some 60 referees were able to handle all the college, high school and amateur games in the area. Still, the rumblings of the future soccer "explosion" could be felt. Professional soccer had arrived in the United States in the wake of extensive coverage of the 1966 World Cup, and it now appeared that soccer would grow in stature until it had joined baseball and football as a major outdoor sport.

The prospect of refereeing professional soccer with its accompanying emoluments was not lost on the MWSRA. Some of its members tried to get a jump on the others (according to the minutes of a 1968 meeting) by sending their names individually to the local pro team, the Washington Whips. This apparently caused the first serious rift in the Association, and the minutes records are replete with charges and counter-charges on who were the guilty and the innocent. One member, now gone, reportedly rose and said: "If we are going to have all this nitpicking, let's have a separate monthly meeting for nitpicking only." The stormy sessions culminated in Buck Davidson sending a letter of resignation to the Association secretary, George Lazer. This sent a shock wave through the membership, the resignation was refused, some suspensions were handed down, and peace reigned once more. Thirteen names were sent to the selection committee under the aegis of the Association. As a matter of interest, they were as follows: Davidson, Durkan, Dwyer, Kobren, LaBeach, Lafferty, Olmstead, Phillips, Reynolds, Rieder, Surgen, Stevens, and Sutherland.

Since the same maelstrom was probably whipping through referee groups all over the country, not many of the above actually got to work professional games. Walter Durkan, of course, did handle successfully many pro matches, and was later joined by Guy Fraiture, G. Singh, Peter Johnson, and Ulrich Strom.

The professional candle burned with varying degrees of brightness for the next few years. The local Washington Whips, coached incidentally by one of our members, Hicabi "Turk" Emekli, to a 6 - 3 - I record in 1968, gave way to the "Darts," then to the "Dips," then to oblivion. The candle flickered forsome time in other parts of the U.S., but finally sputtered and died in 1983, thus rendering all the fulminations redundant, and allowing the Association to get back to nuts and bolts officiating.

As with every organization which is forced to expand rapidly to keep up with its commitments, there were growing pains. Youth clubs had suddenly discovered soccer and its health advantages, girls' and womens' leagues were springing up, high schools began adding juniorvarsity and junior high to their programs, Montgomery Soccer became a corporation with its own set of modified rules. All of these placed demands on the Association to provide service, with the predictable consequence that some of the officials put on the field were not of the highest caliber. As every official in any sport well knows, it is one thing to leam the rules from a book; it is entirely another to put them into effect on the playing field under stress conditions.

Guy Fraiture, Don Dennison, and Nick Kovalakides confer prior to a championship game.

More Buck Davidson 15-year Jacket men, 1982.

Still, considering the fact that we were pressing into service players, former players, coaches, umpires and officials who were already working other sports, the complaints were kept to a minimum, mainly by reason of clinics and meetings.

Always, it seems, there were meetings. The growing association met to discuss rules, mechanics, procedure, discipline, and the ever-present threat to our members. They were not popular, but most would agree to their necessity. Alone and extremely vulnerable on the field, sometimes only the knowledge that he (or she) is backed by a strong organization gives an official the courage to make the unpalatable but correct call.

From the minutes of a 1969 meeting, then secretary Walter Durkan reported that two Baltimore referees had been attacked and injured (one's head required eight stitches) by players on a Washington team, Inter-American Bank. A letter was sent to the National Soccer League (of which IAB was a member) stating that the Association would not work any more games involving IAB until the guilty players were "turned in." Not only were they turned in, the whole team was disbanded as a direct result of the Association's action.

On various other occasions the Association has either withdrawn its services or issued warnings of such because of the behavior of a particular team or its supporters. In every instance measures have been immediately instituted to make the referee's job less hazardous.

Pete Mehlert: "A" rated referee, soccer coach at American University. Four times Collegiate Coach of the Year. AU, finalist in NCAA playoffs, losing 1 - 0 in 8th overtime. December 14, 1985.

"Turk" Emekli: "A" rated referee, brought soccer to Catholic University. Was CU's first coach, 1954, continued until 1976. Also coached professional team, Washington Whips, in 1968.

Gene Hostetler: Currently coaches both boys'and girls'varsity at BethesdaChevy Chase High School. Boys won 1984 AA Divisional state championships, girls won 1985 Division 11 championships. Two of his players on the boys'squad made all-state in '84, two more in '85. Gene is a "B" rated referee at present.

Guy Fraiture: "A" rated, former professional, referee. Ex -professional soccer player in Belgium and U.S. Coaches at Georgetown Prep school, and runs two club teams. Eight of his players made all-state in 1985.

Bob Sedam: Coa'ches boys' varsity at Einstein High School. Was named Montgomery County Coach of the Year in 1984. "B" rated referee.

Ulrich Strom: "A" rated, former professional, referee. Rules Interpreter and Referee Instructor for USSFA. Worked many NASL games around the country before league's demise in '83.

Walter Durkan: "A" rated, former professional, referee. Played on a professional soccer team in Ireland, though he remained an amateur. Also worked many NASL matches around the country.

Cathy Hock: Named Player of the Year at Holy Cross High School. Scored 25 goals in '85.

John De Freitus: "A" rated referee. Photographer par excellence. Member of MWSRA executive board.

Andre Broumas Award Winners

Ned Boehm

Buddy Clark

Dave Dugan

Dan Durkit

Bob Kanjian

Bob Newby

Francis Otero

Ron and Brad Personett

Joe Postorino

Zsolt Szalay

Mac Tredway

Bruce Wagner

Some previous Andre Broumas winners gather for award to the Personetts.

Buck Davidson Award Recipients

Andy Brown

Joe Buhling

Jim Deveney

Tom Deveney

Walter Durkan

Turk Emekli

Guy Fraiture

Paul Friedman

Herb Heidenreich

Gene Hostetler

Nelson Kobren

Sam LaBeach

Vince Nyerges

Roland Oelberg

Ed Rieder

Bob Sommers

Dick Stimson

Ron Surgen

Ulrich Strom

Frank Valesz

Dirk Van Der Loo

Ulrich Strom is assisted into his 15-year Buck Davidson Award jacket by Sam LaBeach.

This is not to say that soccer officiating has become a blissful occupation. Bickering from the sidelines, from coaches and players, remain an integral part of the game, no matter how we wish it were otherwise. Still, actual physical violence has progressed from commonplace to infrequent to being something of a rarity. Even so, the attrition rate in the Association has always been high. Some newcomers can't absorb the mental shock of being vociferously abused, often from both teams and both sides of the field. They quit before attaining active member status. Others accept the challenge and grow because of it, giving the organization a fund of competent officials who are efficient and absolutely reliable.

As an incentive in this regard, various awards are given each year by the Association, the nominees being voted on by the members of the executive committee.

Perhaps the most prestigious is the Andre Broumas award, since it can be won only once by a single member. It is offered to the man or woman in his or her first year of membership, who shows the most promise, who is the most industrious, the most willing to help out where he or she is most needed, who in short brings credit to the Association, as did the man in whose name the award is given.

Andre Broumas came to the Association in 1968 from the U.S. Military Academy in New York. He already had had extensive experience as a soccer referee, and immediately plunged into assisting the executive committee in establishing a link with the NewYork branch of NISOA (National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association). He quickly became an important and valued member of the organization, and a fine referee to boot.

Lieutenant Colonel Broumas, however, was with us for a relatively short period. He was called to serve in Viet Nam the following year, and was killed by enemy action on September 3, 1969.

The record shows that the first winner of the award named after him was Francis Otero. It was presented to him at one of the early banquets for MWSRA hosted by the British Embassy, May 24, 1970.

Nelson Kobren presents Larry Morgan with presidential plaque - 1983.

Another award which has become almost a yearly function now is given on behalf of Buck Davidson to members who have completed 15 years of service to MWSRA. The snappy blue blazer is much coveted by newer officials, and is a compelling reason for some to stick it out during those days with which we are all familiar, when it would be easy to say: "The hell with it, I don't need this." No one would acknowledge this more readily than Mr. Davidson were he here personally to hand out the jackets.

The John De Freitus award is given to the member of the Association considered by the executive committee to have rendered outstanding service to soccer in a particular year. John, of course, is our (and NISOA'S) official photographer who himself renders yeoman service to soccer. He also serves on the current executive committee.

A Coach of the Year award is also given by the Association, hopefully with no ulterior motive. It is offered to the local soccer coach who has best exemplified the qualities of leadership and achievement.

Throughout the 1970s, despite simultaneous problems such as control on the field, internal change and the continuing effort to upgrade its standards, the Association kept growing. The yellow and red cards, which came into use in the early part of the decade, helped immensely in solving the control problem, especially with the large influx of foreign non-English-speaking players. The holding up of the warning and ejection signals eliminated a lot of verbiage and finger-wagging by officials.

Day-long annual clinics presented by knowledgeable, well-known referees and featuring invited guest speakers from across the country, plus repeated showings of films on officiating, had a salutary effect on the overall standards. Observing and listening to respected persons telling and showing the way it should be done enlarged the nucleus of first-class referees available to the commissioner forevery type of game. The rating system of alphabetically listing and dividing members into four categories was now an established fact. Ratings of A, B, C, or * (no rating at present) were handed down by a single committee which was presided over by the vice president of the Association. The system wasn't, and isn't, embraced bv members as a satisfactory arbiter of the degree of competence, and is constantly under review with improvement in mind.

Under perennial discussion, also, was the stipulation that only males over the age of 18 were eligible to join MWSRA. Many people were of the opinion that a good-sized pool of talent was being overlooked by this condition of membership, and the discussion eventually brought important change.

Women Enter The Arena

Until 1976, soccer officiating had been a male prerogative. It had been assumed that women psychologically were not suited to withstand the pressure caused by the sport's volatility and the barrage of criticism which constantly emanates from the sidelines and the field itself.

This assumption was about to be proved false. With the numbers of female soccer leagues and players rising almost exponentially, it was in the natural order of things that some would become interested in officiating. The Association welcomed them, figuratively speaking, with open arms. They were a heaven-sent answer to the commissioner's prayer, a hitherto ignored potential solution to the increasingly difficult problem of enticing new people into the business.

At first viewed by male members with something like awed curiosity, the female referees were soon respected in their own right. Many have since advanced to "A" status by efficiency and sheer determination, and like their sisters in construction work and other male bastions, have blazed a trail along which others will surely follow.

The first female member of the Association was Rue Davidson, from Bowie, Maryland, who ultimately qualified for the "A" rating, and went on to be the coach of the women's varsity soccer team at George Washington University.

Another of the early pioneers, if they can be so called, was Janine LaBastile. Enthusiastic and hard working, Janine quickly established herself as a good, qualified, firm official. She has advanced, in some nine years, to membership in the prestigious National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association, and has worked Division I college games in Virginia where she lives with husband Mike Taylor, also a referee. Elected twice to the position of secretary of the Association, LaBastile in her tenure did a thorough and painstaking job, innovating and following through on programs whereby experienced referees assisted novices over the initial hump of depression that goes with the territory.

Lois Sheane, now in her seventh year as an official, is also a prominent member of the Association. Like LaBastile, she is a resident of Virginia, and besides her soccer work, is involved in Special Olympics at St. Coletta's school in Arlington. Lois feels she is still improving her refereeing skills, and that being female helped rather than hindered her progress.

"The players weren't afraid to tell me how bad I was," she says, "like they would a man. So I could measure my improvement by the reduction in the number of times I was told this."

Now an "A" official, Sheane knew that there would come a day when she would have to eject a coach. It would probably be a male since they are, by common consent, the more obstreperous. She (in common, perhaps, with most female referees) wondered how it would affect her psychologically. When it happened, she says, it was the most natural thing in the world, because he (the coach, nameless) was "Carrying on so much there was nothing else I could do."

She tried calming him down with the yellow, but it didn't help, so she pulled the red, and he was gone.

Sharon Sculli, Janet Rasmussin, Cathy Hock, Susan Frank and Colleen Finnegan, to name just a few, are other members on the distaff side who are upwardly mobile as far as officiating is concerned.

In 1974, the Association quietly became a corporation. As gross income increased from a few thousand dollars a year ($4800 in 1965) to more than a hundred thousand, the very real threat of a lawsuit became a Sword of Damocles forever hanging over the heads of the commissioner and the members of the executive committee. Though few stopped to think about it, the rag-tag organization, formed to provide umbrella coverage for a few men working soccer games less than two decades before, was now an incorporated business entering into contracts and agreements with various leagues and associations. Some of these leagues had at their disposal attorneys and persons-at-law who were willing to provide (since their kids were involved) free legal advice in the case of a dispute.

The Association felt that it had to take steps to protect its committee members, who were serving on a voluntary basis, and its commissioner, who was being paid, from being sued personally and collectively. The move to incorporate proved both wise and timely; on more than one occasion during the following years threats of legal action were heard by referees as soccer continued to expand.

Most threats, however, were heat of the moment affairs made by irate parents on the sidelines, and a telephone call from the commissioner, a letter from the executive committee, or even a few words from the official after the game was enough to calm things down. r

We were fortunate, also, that we now had people among our diverse membership who could render assistance in handling things of this nature. Larry Morgan, who had extensive experience in the political arena, and Don Dennison, an attorney, had joined up because of their interest in soccer, little knowing how valuable their vocational knowledge would become to the Association. We also had accountants, teachers, engineers, plumbers, tailors, printers, salesmen, machinists, and enough entrepreneurs to found a good-sized firm.

The annual banquets grew larger and more imposing. The earlier feasts were held in a variety of places, from Nelson Kobren's backyard to the Bethesda Naval Hospital grounds. Twenty-five people (no wives) was a good crowd and everyone was adjured to bring his own (steak) knife. Bill Olden is credited with procuring the steaks and Joe Buhling with cooking them. Compare this to the sumptuous dinner and dance at Blobs Park in 1976 when the Association celebrated its 25th Anniversary, with over 300 attending.

Another function which has been ritually observed is the annual soccer match between MWSRA and Club 35, a club established some twenty years ago to promote soccer interest in the older athlete. Begun by Buck Davidson (for the refs) and John Lamb (for the 35s), the traditional game has been carried on by Tom Deveney and Walter Durkan, with Tony Stevens and Jim Deveney as sort of water carriers. In the beginning the 35s were too strong, but with the infusion of youth into the referee ranks (not to mention that the refs are MWSRA people) the pendulum has swung, and the latest encounter had the referees winning by 6 to 1. For those interested in participating in this joust, it is held each Thanksgiving Day at 10 a.m. at Holy Trinity Seminary, Silver Spring.

The Anti-Trust Lawsuit

One of the more disquieting events in the history of the Association was the bringing of a suit against the organization by one of our members. Since it was something of a watershed it bears special mention, though names will be omitted to spare certain parties' feelings and to avoid any embarassment stemming from the publication.

It began innocently enough. One of our referees, who was both a member of MWSRA and DC/NOVA (an association formed by referees mostly domiciled in Virginia), accepted and worked two scholastic games assigned by the DC/ NOVA commissioner in April 1981. This was in violation of MWSRA by-laws and was subsequently reported as such to the executive committee by one of our regional assistant commissioners, who observed the referee working the games.

In August 1981, the referee was suspended by the president of the Association (Larry Morgan) and ordered to appear before the executive board to explain her transgression. The referee appeared with counsel and claimed that it was her understanding that she was allowed to accept assignments from the DC/NOVA commissioner even for scholastic games, and that she should not have been suspended. Ten days later the Association removed the suspension but imposed a fine equal to the amount she received for working the games.

Rather than pay the fine, the referee appealed the decision to the general membership at a meeting on December 20, 1981. Her attorney spoke on her behalf, and Don Dennison, then vice president of MWSRA, presented the Association's case. The membership voted not only to affirm the fine, but to suspend the referee until the fine had been paid. Reacting to this, the referee filed an anti-trust action in the United States District Court, joining the regional commissioner and Nelson Kobren as codefendants along with the Association. The suit sought an injunction and $40,000 in damages.

After extensive interrogatories and after the trial was well under way, the judge (whose son at that time had joined MWSRA as a new referee) brought pressure on both parties to settle the suit. The outcome was a consent agreement whereby the by-laws of the Association were agreed to be lawful, the damages claim was dropped and our officials were allowed to work for other commissioners under special circumstances when permission was sought in advance and no MWSRA games were available for assignment.

The repercussions, though the settlement was amicable and the official concerned is now "A" rated, brought home the fact that the once-small band of soccer officials that had gotten together over a beer had entered the realm of anti-trust and corporate law, adversary relationships and the need for legal counsel in negotiations with dissident members.

Computer Officiating

Not only was the assigning of games becoming more complicated, but presiding over the swelling organization (now more than 400 strong) was becoming a time-consuming job, given the small amount of part time hours available. Dirk Van Der Loo took over from Pete Johnson as president in 1977, Bob Sommers held the reins from '79 to '81, Larry Morgan took the gavel from '81 to '83, all of them doing a fine job while attesting to the fact that some streamlining ought to be done.

At Morgan's urging, and utilizing his organizational skills, the Association went swimming in the computer waters. It was becoming obvious that the commissioner's job was getting more arduous by the year. Not only were the lines of officiating strung out, but the membership was now so scattered that telephone communication (for assigning purposes) was difficult. We had now reached out beyond the boundaries of the Washington Metropolitan Area; our services were sought in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's Counties in southern Maryland, Columbia and Howard County in the north, Fairfax in the west and Annapolis in the east.

First, a new card telephone system was installed, eliminating the need for constant dialing. Then a Radio Shack Model 11 computer was purchased and programmed through Morgan's expertise as an aid to keeping records of games worked and money earned. Now, at the touch of a button in the commissioner's office, a screen display shows who should be at a particular field at what time.

As a beneficiary side effect, the field directory has also been updated and presented in dot matrix fashion. The old language, "Go past two traffic lights and turn left at the Hot Shoppes," has been replaced by more pragmatic instructions. The joke about the new official calling Kobren for help and telling him he was on the comer of "Stop War" and "March on Washington" is no longer apt. Directions for the most part are clear and as precise as can be expected given the fluid state of soccer field location.

Don Dennison succeeded Larry Morgan and fine-tuned the organizational meetings,which were now held at the cavemous University of Maryland Armory through the auspices of Nick Kovalakides. (Nick is one of our longer-serving referees, a clinician who Ilterally wrote the book on officiating, but who at this writing has decided to retire.) We now had printouts taped to the wall instead of pass-around legal sheets as attendance records. Also microphones were substituted for yelling and a Parliamentarian is called for under the newly passed constitution and by-laws drafted by Dennison. (No sergeant-at-arms is apparently deemed necessary as yet.)

The current president, Bob Kanjian, took over in midstream, as it were, from Pete Accolla, who was elected but resigned for personal reasons in 1985. Kanjian is a hard-driving, extroverted person who is also a strong referee. He believes that with him at the helm the Association can continue to move forward and upward.As he puts it in the message in the front of this publication, we all share the commitment to excellence.

No history would be complete without mention being made of Betty Kobren, who kept the feminine flag flying without ever stepping onto a soccer field. She has "manned" the phones, taking the calls and sometimes the heat for Nelson while he roamed the sidelines at some far-flung high school or college. Twenty-seven years of keeping house piled with soccer referee equipment, examination papers, plaques, raffle prizes, plus the new computer software, and remaining reasonably calm is a tribute in itself. When the irate phone calls and late night visitors are added in along with a mate who keeps not bankers' but bank robbers' hours, perhaps a special medal should be struck.

Lastly, a salute to our oldest member, Bill Rapley, who is an inspiration to those of us whose joints are on the creaky side. At 74, he keeps going, as the old Timex ads used to say, when the rest have stopped.

Not a bad motto for the MWSRA, come to think of it.

Teams/Combos

Father/Son

Joe and Eric Baer

David and Lynus Bames

Bill and Scott Brown

David, Ted and Toby Callender

Tim and Pastra Constantinou

Don and David Dennison

Tom and John Ford

Adrian and John Harding

Herb and Hans Heidenreich

Bob and Robert Kanjian

John and Rob Lewis

David and Jack Lizmi

Allan and John Lowe

Larry and Jon Mangen

Bob and Peter Mangone

Tony and David Mastrostefano

Tony and Odysseus Mikalis

Ron and Brad Personett

John and Joe Postorino

Bill and Bill Rapley

Dirk and Ron Van Der Loo

Father/Daughter

Dick and Shanon Scully

Mother/Son

Nelle and David Barnes

Brothers

Callenders

De Freituses

Deveneys

Fords

Hardings

Lewises

Mangones

Mastrostefanos

Rosses

Smiths

Strobels

Trollingers

Trementozzis

Watsons

Brother/Sister

David and Janet Schussler

Husband/Wife

Ted and Susan Polydoroff

 Tony Stevens accepts trophy from Pat McAteer after First annual game - MWSRA vs. Club 35 in 1966.

Appreciation

The Historical Committee is indebted to the following members for their help in compiling this booklet:

Committee:

Jim Deveney, Chairman

Greg Dash

Nick Kovalakides,

December 1985