It's not an easy job

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers IN CHARGE—Eighteen-year-old T.O. resident Kyle Kazmer has already worked an MLS preseason game in his budding career. Kyle Kazmer is finally getting the recognition he's worked so hard to obtain.

The 18-year-old Thousand Oaks resident was recently honored as the Cal South Referee of the Year for soccer. Kazmer has also been nominated for the West Regional's National Referee of the Year, which consists of officials west of Texas.

Kazmer, who's been a referee since he was 11, was thrilled to be honored for his efforts.

"If you would have told me seven years ago that I would be getting this award, I probably would have laughed at you," Kazmer said.

"I never expected this. It's very hard to get respect and credibility as a referee," he said.

The Oaks Christian senior is quickly moving up in the refereeing world, and he recently worked a Major League Soccer preseason game. Since Kazmer is in high school, he isn't allowed to officiate regular-season matches at the professional level. He mostly refs college and club-level games.

Kazmer credits his former referee assignor, Maggie Saling, for his success.

"Early on, (Saling) put me in a lot of games with older, experienced guys that knew what they were doing," Kazmer said. "It wasn't long before I was working some Division I college games.

"She also taught me a lot about the politics that come with the job."

Saling has always appreciated Kazmer's on-field demeanor.

"Most referees are in it for the money," Saling said. "They want to be like the younger people they ref, and they often wear lower shorts to act cool. Not Kyle.

"He always wanted to be very professional. He has the potential to go all the way and someday work MLS games," Saling said.

The road to being named Cal South Referee of the Year, however, has often been a rocky one.

"I was getting ready to ref a game a few years back when a couple of the coaches and fans started to argue that I was too young to ref the game," Kazmer said. "They just could not believe that a person of my age would be good.

"The same fans started to make a bunch of negative comments about me, but at halftime they all came up and apologized. They said I was the best ref they had seen all year."

Not all fans have been as forgiving.

Kazmer said he occasionally faces the wild-eyed parent or fan. The worst was when he worked a women's soccer game with his father in Santa Barbara last year.

"I made a call, and this one fan just started to go nuts," Kazmer said. "He was a pretty big guy, probably 23 years old, and he wouldn't stop. We kicked him out, and he had to go to his car or else the game wouldn't continue. He went to his car in the parking lot not far away from the field, but he continued to honk his horn for the next 45 minutes.

"When the game was over, he boxed my dad's car in so we couldn't leave and continued to yell at us. We finally left the parking lot, but he kept cutting in front of us all the way to the freeway. We're yelling back at him, 'Hey, you're only making this worse,' but he continued. All this over a soccer call," Kazmer said.

No one said it's easy being a referee.

"I try to block all the negative stuff out of my mind, "Kazmer said. "Deep down, I know I'm a really good ref. You just have to realize there are a lot of nutcases in the world, and you can't please them all."

Kazmer said the toughest calls he has to make are on penalty kicks.

"The PK is the hardest call to sell because many players know the routine and will fake getting hit," Kazmer said. "Sometimes you need to know when a no-call is better for the flow of the game."

Kazmer used to play soccer but gave it up at 13 when he realized he was better at officiating than playing the sport.

Soon thereafter, he was officiating games with players in their early 20s.

"I rarely miss playing," Kazmer said. "There's still a lot of community and teamwork with being a ref. I know other referees all over California, and we're all good friends. In a way, it's like being in a fraternity."

Kazmer's dream job would be to officiate MLS games on a regular basis, but he admits the chances are slim.

"It would be awesome to work MLS games, but I do realize there aren't too many positions available and there are so many people looking to get them," he said.

As for where he'll be in 10 years, well, that's another tough call to make.

"I'm probably going to Loyola Marymount University next year, where I plan on majoring in business to become a financial planner."

Kazmer said he's going to continue to take every game he works seriously.

"Everyone will screw up a call once in a while, but unless it's a huge mistake, I don't lose sleep over it," Kazmer said. "You just hope the game's not being shown on television."