By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
October 1, 2024-Robert Sibiga was a natural as a referee. He was discovered by Enrico Romano while refereeing high school games in 2009. Enrico encouraged the Carmel resident and native of Poland to take the Bridge course so that he could officiate youth soccer games. Using the youth leagues of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) as a springboard, Robert moved up the ladder very quickly and refereed US Youth Soccer’s national championships in 2010 and 2011, then the NCAA Division 3 Women’s Final Four in 2013.
So quickly that Robert became a 4th Official in Major League Soccer (MLS) just four years after becoming a referee, a remarkable progression. He was honored with the Jose Vargas Award as the Eastern New York Referee of the Year in 2013, became a full-time MLS ref and was selected as the 2021 MLS Referee of the Year.
As the 2021 MLS regular season came to a close, Robert suffered an undiagnosed concussion in a MLS game that very sadly, ended his pro referee career after officiating MLS for a decade.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade and Robert did exactly that in becoming a National Referee Coach. Robert has led clinics internationally for CONCACAF Academies in Costa Rica and Mexico and an U.S. Armed Forces clinic in Germany. Additionally, he has presented clinics for US Youth Soccer’s President’s Cup regionals and nationals, North Carolina Advanced Academy, Eastern New York referee certification, the New York Metro Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (NYMISOA) and Long Island Soccer Referee Association (LISRA).
At the LISRA September Meeting, Robert kicked off his 90-minute presentation by saying, “Of all the referees here, there is only one teenager. Many new referees start off as assistant refs helping more experienced refs. I’ve seen refs in the middle allow a lot of dissent from coaches. That assistant ref has a choice, continue to ref and be yelled at or play video games with his friends. What do you think the new ref will select? The Laws give us the power to curtail dissent from the touchline and we need to do it so we have enough refs.”
Robert, now 50 years old, explained his current situation by saying that “I’m limited with what I can do but I focus on coaching and mentoring officials at various levels. I work with US Youth Soccer at many events, I’m a ref-coach for PRO2, mentor for CONCACAF officials from the Dominican Republic and Trinidad & Tobago. I’m happy that I get to share my experience from my officiating days with younger officials who want to progress, as well with veterans, to keep them updated with current Laws of the Game.”
Additionally, Robert has returned to the fields in Putnam County where his referee career began 15 years ago and is able to fulfill some Hudson Valley Soccer Referee Association (HVSRA) assignments for the Hudson Valley Youth Soccer League (HVYSL).
“You can see me once in a while, when my schedule allows, run a line on an Under-13 game for some young referee who’s just starting. Most of the time, the young ref doesn’t know who I am and was.”
HVSRA President Brian Baer stated, “Robert provides invaluable effort to help our area’s referees become better officials. Whether it’s providing mentoring during tournaments or regular season games, or it’s leading an educational event for Regional Referees, or it’s ‘Put me with a younger crew so we can work together,’ Robert always gives back to our officiating program here in the Hudson Valley and across Eastern New York.”
Think that you would like to try officiating Eastern New York’s youth soccer leagues? For more information, log on to https://enysreferee.org/how-to-become-a-referee/. If you have any questions, e-mail questions@enysreferee.org
With over 100,000 youth soccer players––both boys and girls––and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 10 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Children With Special Needs. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and US Youth Soccer. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/