A Friend and Colleague Now in the Hall of Fame

Last Saturday afternoon (18 Oct.), I joined with my friend and refereeing colleague Austin Gomez and some other colleagues in going to the America's Center in downtown St. Louis. There, at the America's Ballroom, Gomez and ten others were inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame. He was chosen for his 50-year career as a soccer referee, instructor, and assessor. It was my first time at this event, and I was impressed. The crowd of just over 1100 also saw several other former and present players and coaches honored by the Hall. I was very happy for Gomez, who I have known for nearly 30 years and have worked with several times on games. (I got my picture taken with Gomez before the dinner.) There is more information on the Hall and this year's inductees on their website: http://www.stlsoccerhalloffame.com/

The next afternoon found me at the Kolping Kicks Complex in south St. Louis County, where I officiated two youth matches. After running line on a rather one-sided under-18 girls' match, I took charge of a under-13 boys' match that was much closer: 1-0, with the goal scored well into the second half. It went well, and I didn't feel too bad in my legs afterward.

Work has been well this week, with the weather cool and more autumn-like this week. After work on Monday night (20 Oct.), I was at the Grand Glaize Branch of the St. Louis County Library for the monthly referee clinic. The new hall of famer Austin Gomez moderated talk about on recent game situations and what the correct calls were, and presented acronyms for refereeing concepts.

Tuesday night after work, I was at the IPMS/Gateway meeting at Calvary Presbyterian Church. We had our model of the month "beauty contest" and a demo from Mike George on glossy paint finishes for car models. Well attended meeting and we had a new member join us at the meeting. More on our club at our website: http://ipms-gateway.com/

Off work today and taking it easy. A handyman has been here the past two days installing new doors on the house, which do look very nice.

Later.