Gilroy High coach again honored by his peers in Major League
Soccer
Gilroy – Anyone who has spent any time around the Gilroy boys’ soccer team recently will notice a familiar face hobbling around the sideline.
He moves fairly well considering he is on crutches. The voice is still loud and clear as Brian Hall barks out instructions to players. He is an authoritative figure and not just because he and Armando Padilla share coaching duties for the Mustangs.
For the third time in four years, Hall has been chosen Major League Soccer Referee of the Year.
“It’s a real honor since the voting is by the players, coaches, general managers, media and my colleagues,” Hall said. “The third time around is a big honor especially since I missed out on the World Cup and the Olympics, to still be viewed by your ‘customers’ as one of the best.”
Hall missed out on the 2004 Olympics in Greece because of a hamstring injury. That injury eliminated him from the pool of referees considered for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Since he reached age 45 in 2006, his 15-year career as an international referee comes to a close.
“They (FIFA) has an age requirement to keep up with the speed of play,” Hall said.
He intends to continue refereeing in MLS as he has done for the 11 years the league has been in existence. The season runs from April through November.
However, when he attends the national soccer camp the first weekend in February at the Home Depot Center in Carson, he will only be able to take the written test. The fitness test will have to wait until he is fully recovered from the cartilage replacement surgery he recently had.
A lifelong Californian, Hall played high school soccer at Monta Vista in Cupertino. He went to Santa Clara University, where he earned a degree in marketing. He did not, however, play soccer since at age 19 he was already a linesman and felt he had to make a decision of whether he wanted to be a referee or player.
It was a wise decision since officiating has taken him 20 different countries, including Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Haiti. He was the first American-born referee in the World Cup — there were others from this country but they were born elsewhere.
“I’ve been real lucky,” Hall said. “I’ve been fortunate to represent the United States on the national stage in a sport where the U.S. is considered internationally inferior.”
Hall’s refereeing has never been considered inferior, which is why he was able to practice his craft on an international stage.
His FIFA career is over but his domestic career will resume, once he is able to discard his crutches.
