Klay Babin first started refereeing soccer here in Maumelle 11 years ago at age 14. He is currently a State Referee, which is a Grade 5, and is in the process of trying to become a National Referee.

Klay has refereed literally thousands of matches in his 11 year career. He has done matches at the minor league professional level, college, adult amateur, high school, and youth soccer. He has refereed High School Championship Finals as well as State and Regional Championship matches. He is known and respected by almost everyone in the state of Arkansas who is involved in soccer. And he is also known regionally through the professional and college matches he has done.

Because of his experience and expertise, he has been asked to be the Referee Assignor for several local major tournaments. He will be assigning the upcoming first-ever Super Clubs tournament to be held in Arkansas next month at Burns Park.

Klay has also been a referee instructor for the entry-level referee courses, both Grade 9’s and 8’s.

In short, Klay is an extremely valuable, local referee resource and is willing to help out or answer any question that you might have. He can be contacted by email at: KPBabin2@yahoo.com or cell phone: 501-772-1012.

Local referee Lawrence Hale will be completing his requirements this summer to advance to the Grade 7 level for USSF referees.

To advance to G7 from G8 you must be the center referee for 75 matches with a full crew and you must be an AR for 25 additional matches. High School matches do NOT count towards this total. You also must be at least 17 years old. You have to be assessed, and pass, by a State Referee Committee Assessor. You must also meet age-specific physical testing requirements AND pass an expanded written test.

Lawrence has, of course, done all of these things and with GUSTO! Locally, he is known for the positive attitude, energy, and enthusiasm which he brings to each and every match that he officiates. He was invited to ref at ODP (Olympic Development Program) camp for four days this summer in Alabama.

He has aspirations of advancing on to become a Grade 6 Referee. The requirements for this include all of the above AND being a Grade 7 for at least one year. He must also be the center referee for 50 matches at the U19 level and above. Also, he would have to pass 2 to 3 more assessments. Locally, U19 and above matches are only found at Burns Park and Otter Creek for the Adult Amateur and Mex-Ark Leagues.

In addition to Klay Babin, Lawrence is also an excellent local referee resource for problems or questions and can be reached via email at Lawrence.Hale@fisglobal.com and via cell phone at 501-517-3039.