As some of you are aware, I have refereed for the local US Soccer Federation referee Unit in the Buffalo/Western New York area (the largest in state). Midway through last year, I was approached about doing high school games. To which, I attended the necessary meetings and other engagements. Now I knew that meant I had five more uniforms to purchase as the are different than those of recreational soccer. Normal uniforms have black stripes running like pinstripes but thicker (.5") with another inch in the uniform color which is enclosed by a black pinstripe {█ ▐}, and the white replaces black on the black uniform. USSF colors are preferred in the following order: gold, green, black, red, blue. Green used to be last but replaced black as second with it's growing popularity. The Buffalo/WNY unit switched to green as second choice prior to my second year. I did like the green one before we had switched to it being second preference. Each USSF jersey is roughly $25 each (before long-sleeve and shipping, of course).
You'll notice that mot only is red replaced by orange, but my goodness that pattern. Many of the officials in the local unit (at least) are in our high-school and college (Interscholastic - NISOA) units. The order here was changed from green to being third instead of last, now only preceded by gold then orange. But let's talk about that tessellation-like display. It changes from top to bottom and on the black is completely unusual. Unlike the rest, the black doesn't go below the top of the chest pockets or more than halfway to the cuffs. Furthermore, instead of the pattern being in white, it has white trim but still using black like the rest of the uniforms. These can go from $45-50 each (also before long-sleeve and shipping). While it isn't a true gradient, the quasi-tessellated effect makes it seem so. I always did like the orange NISOA uniforms. Unfortunately they can appear red or red-orange from time to time due to the amount of black.
But that doesn't answer the question about soccer referees. Why don't they have normal looking uniforms? They are the most bizzare uniforms (in team sports) compared to the traditional black and white stripes of many sports officials. Baseball and cricket umpires look the most professional of the sports (though that used to be Australian rules goal umpires with the shirt, tie, and butcher's coats). Now, due to the nature of the sports demands, Australian rules umpires are in fluorescent colored shapewear (think Under Armor) which was preceded by athletic polo shirts in the 90s and the previously mentioned butcher's coats. The NBA is the only basketball affiliation in which gray is used. A big reason is because of teams such as Italy's Juventus FC
S.p.A. and England's Newcastle United FC who both famously wear the black and white stripes (though thicker and in less quantity). Then in recent years, many of the referees outside of the US have had changes in the design and at least two switches in England's Premier League. That includes the
most recent from the past season or two.
-Ricky
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