When traveling to tournaments out of state/country having upgraded helps with letting the assignor know you're capable of more competitive assignments; it allows you to do more competitive matches in your state, work with more experienced referees who are also working (on a more regular basis) the more competitive matches, it also lets you see players who are more skillful (and you can even work your way up to the professional level, working matches in RFK stadium and getting some free TV time, or, as with Brian Hall this year, referee in the World Cup itself). All these things are possible with "upgrading."       Upgrading also allows you to give back more to other referees, especially new ones, because the advanced training you'll receive--more classroom instruction and a greater variety of referee related topics going beyond the laws of the game to include player, coach, and referee psychology, the many aspects of the "spirit" of the game, people management techniques, etc., in addition to physical fitness tests, assessments, and interacting with a greater number of referees -- will make you better at what you do on and off the field.

John Schmitz, National Referee and Assessor.

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