Three Iowa Referees Headed to Youth Nationals

This past week, 14 referees from across Iowa represented the 1800+ Iowa referees at the 2009 US Youth Soccer Region II Championships in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Out of the over 250 referees representing the 15 states of Region II, Iowa is proud to announce the selection of 3 Iowa officials to attend the 2009 US Youth Soccer National Championship tournament to be held July 21-26 in Lancaster, MA. The selection to attend the National Championships is determined by the Region II staff based on game and off-field performance evaluations.

Katja Koroleva of Iowa City, Iowa was selected to return to the National Championships as one of 48 referees from across the nation (1 of 12 from Region II). Katja previously was selected in 2007 to attend the National Championships as an assistant referee.

Kevin Zhang of Dubuque, Iowa was selected to attend the National Championships as another of the 48 referees. This is his first trip to the National Championships.

Justin Mack of Des Moines, Iowa was selected to attend the National Championships as one of 20 assistant referees (1 of 5 from Region II). This is his first trip to the National Championships.

Congratulations are in order for these three, but also for the entire Iowa Referee delegation who turned in outstanding performances on the field while receiving valuable feedback from professional referees, mentors, and assessors who were in attendance to watch and provide developmental feedback to the officials in attendance. This years Iowa delegation was:

• Chris Civitate
• Jenn Dvorak-Dunn
• Katja Koroleva
• Justin Mack
• Tom McCulloh
• Kevin Mesman
• Lance Mesman
• Jordan Palmer
• Trent Payne
• Nicole Pippert
• Ryan Rink
• Chad Sussex
• Tyler Turner
• Kevin Zhang

This marks the first time that Iowa has sent 3 officials to the National Championships in a single year. Katja, Kevin and Justin join the list of Iowa referees who have been selected to past National Championships:

• Terry Vaughn (1993, 1995, 1998)
• Faith Rossi (2000)
• Mike Lucht (2000)
• Landis Wiley (2004, 2006, 2007)
• Hidajet Tica (2004)
• Dan Cataldi (2005)
• Katja Koroleva (2006, 2009*)
• Lance Mesman (2008)
• Kevin Zhang (2009*)
• Justin Mack (2009*)

Congratulations!