| Al officiated his first match, a coed
intramural game, at King College, where he was playing (center midfield
and goal). He played on and off for the next 31 years, including a
game in Vietnam in 1969 between a Cambodian team and a U.S. Army team, and
15 years in the infamous Coaches League. This is where he
first met Anita Hood, Paul Best, and many other DC/NOVA members through
scheduling referees for his team's games. During this time he also
coached a Division 1 WAGS team, privately trained as many as eight youth
goalies per season, and sat as a board member for the Chantilly Youth
Association, where he met and worked with Scott Meyer, the current
Virginia State Referee Administrator.
Al first certified in 1984, working primarily youth
games around his children's games, but decided against recertification
when both his children became involved in travel soccer and the Olym Al's goals for DC/NOVA are to expand our contacts with associations in other states for the purpose of establishing exchange programs for tournaments; and to establish a program to help officials who wish to upgrade understand the process, get their paperwork together, and prepare for their assessments. Al can be reached at: Home - (703) 476-8646; Work - (703) 430-0772; e-mail, danunley@verizon.net. |
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Development Program. In 1996, with only one child at home, and
realizing that it took him until Tuesday to recover
from his Saturday game, Al decided to again certify as a referee, and did
so in August of that year. Remembering the skill and professionalism
of the DC/NOVA officials he had met, he called Anita, who put him to
work. After working with Bill Turner in the 1997 Virginian
Tournament, Al realized he needed to improve his skills. Looking for
additional training and more challenging games, he recognized that working
toward qualifying for a State badge would provide him with that training
and those games. In 1998 he advanced to Grade 7; in 1999 to Grade 6;
and in 2000 to Grade 5. In 2000 he also became a USSF
Assignor. His personal goals are to also become an Assessor and an
Instructor.