Mike Edmunds (Gord Dunphy photo)

Ken Oliver in the Telegram writes:-In any sport, it’s not uncommon to hear stories of athletes who have remodeled their way of life in order to reach a goal or ascend to an elite level. It is, however, uncommon to learn of a referee or official in any given sport who has done so. Such is the case for St. John’s native Mike Edmunds, a Newfoundland and Labrador Soccer Association official who in June of this year was appointed to the Canadian Soccer Association’s (CSA) list of national referees, and was recently the lead official in a United Soccer League game in Vancouver. (His first stint in the pros was as a fourth, or reserve, official for a Montreal Impact game earlier this season.)

Edmunds, 28, says he’s been “knocking on the door to become a national referee” for a few years now, but has been unsuccessful in passing the fitness portion of the application.

“Last year, I had some medical problems and I kind of had the feeling the CSA this year would be their last year looking at Mike Edmunds. There’s other people across Canada in this program and (the CSA) is not going to give every referee three years to make the list,” he said.

“I knew it myself. I knew I had to get in better shape as my fitness was always an issue.”

So for five months, Edmunds, a correctional officer at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary, worked the night shift, hired a personal trainer, ran twice a week, stuck to a strict diet and swore off alcohol.

“Work, work, train, train, run, run, and eat healthy for five months,” he explains.

Forty pounds lighter and with a new lease on life, Edmunds got his first chance to test his newfound physique in a USL match between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Miami FC on Aug. 23.

“There were a few times I found myself gasping for air,” he admits, “and that’s because at these levels they have 12 ball boys positioned around the field. So as soon as one ball goes out, another one comes in, so there’s no rest time. You have to pick and choose the correct places to be on the field at the right time. It’s tough to judge it.”

Following each USL game, the referees meet with an evaluator. In Edmunds’ case, the evaluator had nothing but good things to say about how Vancouver’s 2-0 win over Miami was called.

“(He) thought my foul recognition throughout the game was superb, how I handled the players.

“For my first game, he thought I achieved the level and standard he felt I should.”

Almost immediately following the game, Edmunds was on a plane back to P.E.I., where he was assigned to work his first Canada Games.

“Five games in six days. They really worked us hard,” says the former St. John’s under-17 all-star who began officiating at the age of 12.

While he won’t work the national championships in Saskatoon next month, the year is far from over for Edmunds. In addition to working this weekend’s Challenge Cup playoffs, he’s almost guaranteed to be assigned to the Canadian College Games in Toronto this November.

Edmunds isn’t the first local referee to be appointed to the national list and probably won’t be the last. Others such as the late Ross Artlett, Ern Foote, Kevin Pittman and Rob Antle paved the way for Edmunds and his ilk.

But in speaking with Pittman in particular, Edmunds says the program requires much more from the refs nowadays than it once did.

“Back then, they would want you for every Thanksgiving for a tournament and that would be it. Now there are a lot of games in Canada and they want you traveling and committed to the program at a certain time of year.”

As part of this list, Edmunds is eligible to work games at the university level, national contests, Canadian exhibitions or qualifiers and any type of international friendlies taking place in Canada.

“Real Madrid just played against Toronto FC and there were four Canadians in that game and two of them were national referees.”

Normally, only FIFA certified officials are permitted to work at that level of play, “but there’s just not enough FIFA referees around,” according to Edmunds.

For his part, Edmunds would one day like to reach that next plateau in soccer officiating, but for right now and the foreseeable future, he’s content just becoming a better official at the national level.

“I’d like to ref at some higher level competitions on a regular basis and do three to four, or five, USL games per year, compared to only one or two.

“But I’m quite happy with this. I really wanted this level and was extremely happy this year when I finally got that different colour badge. Especially with the hard work, money, sweat and tears I put into it.

“The hard part now is maintaining it.”