World opens up for city referee

Peter O'Leary's decision to turn his back on playing, then coaching the sport he loves, has paid dividends.

The 37-year-old Hamiltonian has been selected as one of 30 referees to go to the soccer World Cup in South Africa in June and July – his Everest.

When he was in his early 20s, he gave up playing, then coaching, because he couldn't achieve his goals. "Remember, I wanted to get to the top," he said.

And now he has, as a referee, and if chosen as one of the 24 who officiate a World Cup game, he will not only be at the top but have the best seat in the house.

After his young son woke him up early Saturday morning, O'Leary jumped online to see if the appointments for South Africa had been made.

"It was about 5.30 in the morning ... when I read it I rushed to my wife and I was like `woo-hoo'."

Twenty-four referees will be in charge of pool games and, based on performance, the top eight get playoff games while six of the 30 selected will be used as reserves and fourth officials.

The Hillcrest High School teacher said he expected his and Aucklander Mike Hester's selection to help attract young referees.

"Instead of players retiring at 35 and picking up the whistle, people can see there are clear pathways to the top and if you have talent you can make it," he said.

It was too early for O'Leary to think about what game he'd like to do; there was far too much to do before that was decided in May, he said.

"We go to Zurich in March for fitness testing, then to the Canary Islands for psychological testing and more fitness testing ... then in May we go to Kuala Lumpur for more testing and interviews with the instructors (who appoint the referees to each game)."

The referees choose two linesmen from Oceania as part of their team, work only with them, and are responsible for their team.

Waikato is also likely to have both Chris Wood and Aaron Scott going to the tournament as players, but both are fringe players in national coach Ricki Herbert's squad and O'Leary could see more action.

- © Fairfax NZ News