Photographer captures soccer referees in the heat of the battle

July 6, 10:02 AMSeattle Soccer ExaminerDavid Falk

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Seattle-area photographer Dale Garvey loves to follow soccer and take photos at matches, but while most of us are concentrating on only the players, Dale has his lens focused on the match officials. "I have been shooting for Referee Magazine for about 20 years," says Dale. "They cover soccer, football, baseball, softball, and basketball and I try to position myself to capture contact between players and hopefully get an official in the photo."

Referee Kari Seitz 'discusses' a call with Seattle Sounder Leighton O'Brien in a USL match at Qwest Field a few years ago. (Dale Garvey photo)
 
Garvey has kindly shared a few soccer referee photos with us. See the slide show below. Garvey's camera focuses not only on soccer officials, but a bunch of different sports. It was actually a wrestling tournament photo that started his hobby of capturing officials. "Over twenty years ago I had a shot of a wrestling referee on the side of the mat that appeared to be sleeping.  Actually he was waiting for the next match, and the photo showed two wrestlers with him.  At that time Referee's last page was called "Parting Shot" where they used a humorous photo.  Referee used the photo and I was hooked.  I have used the magazine to walk the sidelines of the Seahawks, Storm, Sonics and Sounders down to T-ball."

See some more of Dale's soccer photos here.
 
Referee-player interactions are fun to follow for Dale. "I enjoy the interaction of the official with the player and with the other officials.  You see this more in basketball.  In basketball you see a lot of officials warning a player or explaining a call.  At some of the Sounders games you see the Assistant Referees rush to the aid of the center when an argument appears to be brewing.  Mike Kennedy doing the Real Madrid game at Quest was a real treat."
 
Over the years Dale had developed a keen eye for referee individual styles. "I find it interesting how much some officials let the players play and others call a tight game.  This is really noticeable in basketball at the lower levels where travelling could be called all the time. I am not an official but had to umpire games while I was a cadet at West Point.  It really makes me appreciate how often the officials make the right call."

"Another thing I notice is that the crew is suppose to check the field and nets together.  When I was in Virginia we had two associations supporting a charity tournament.  The crews from one association walked the field even though a game had just finished.  Many of the other crews glanced at the nets and started play."

Close quarters at Starfire: officials hear the wrath of a Portland Timbers supporter at a US Open Cup match against the USL Sounders. (Dale Garvey)
 
Dale says how the referees carry themselves say a lot about the job they will do. "I think a good appearance on the field is vital.  Assistant Referees or Referees that move up and down the field with their hands in their pockets or their shirts out need to find something else to do. This often happens in the winter at the recreation leagues and I hope someone in the officiating circles will make on the spot corrections."

Referees have also taught Dale about the sports he's photographing. "I very much appreciate the time that some officials take to teach me the finer points of the rules.  I once photographed a tackle at Starfire and sent the shot to the referee.  He asked if I had any more because he wanted to see if he had made the correct call and told me what to look for."