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Pat’s participation in American soccer began as a player in a two-state league in Ohio and Indiana. His club—Edelweiss—was multicultural and diverse, with German-Hungarians, Austrians, an American, a Swiss, an Italian, and an immigrant Englishman at the back.
From playing, Pat moved to coaching, taking the helm of the first university team at the University of Dayton. The need for referees was acute, however, and it was not long before the coach became an official, eventually contributing four decades of refereeing service in several different organizations.
At the college level, he worked for fifteen years, during which he officiated six NAIA semi-finals and finals, two NCAA finals and numerous semi-finals. His success on the field earned him election as the first president of his state’s college referee chapter and in 1972, he was elected the first president of the newly-formed NISOA. Pat continued to serve NISOA over the years, acting as an instructor in its regional and national camps and as an assessor for numerous college tournaments, including the NCAA finals.
With the arrival of the top-class professional game in 1967, Pat moved into the North American Soccer league. He refereed the first NASL match at Fenway Park, plus two “Bronze Boot” games in Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Professional teams that heard his whistle include Santos of Brazil, Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund of Germany, Independiente of Argentina, Bristol City and Manchester City of England, and the Israel National Team.
When Eddie Pearson started building a national training program for referees, it was natural for him to include Pat among the first senior instructors, for already he was the Director of Officials for the American Soccer League, the feeder league of the NASL. Eventually, Pat was appointed a regional referee instructor for the USSF, making him responsible for certifying national referees for the USSF in region two. From 1977 until the league folded, Pat served as director of assessment for the NASL, where his duties included recommending referees to represent the USA on the FIFA list. When the national instructor and assessment positions were created in the late 1980’s, Pat was one of the first in the U.S. to be named a USSF national instructor and assessor. Soon thereafter, he was appointed national director of assessment and a member of the National Referee Committee of the United States Soccer Federation, positions he held for seven years.
Pat was arguably the most active national referee instructor and assessor in the history of the United States Soccer Federation, having taught numerous state referee certification/re-certification clinics, including but not limited to the first of such clinics to be held in Georgia and Florida, and assessing and managing the officials at ten USYSA regional tournaments, six Olympic Festival Tournaments, the Armed Forces Tournament, the national amateur finals, and the finals of the U.S. Open Cup. He was a video inspector for the 1994 World Cup and an MLS stadium assessor and video assessor from the league’s inception until 2006. He, along with Paul Tamberino and Adolfo Reginato, conducted the first ever referee academy held in the United States.
Many of the officials who at one time in their career served as a USSF FIFA attribute their success to the insightful advice and sage guidance of Pat Smith. Among these officials are Ed Bellion (TX), Thomas Bobadilla (CA), Zim Boulos (FL), Angelo Bratsis (MA), Brian Darling (KY), Gino D’ippolito (NY), Raul Dominguez (FL), Bob Evans (TX), Toros Kabrijian (CA), Alfred Kleinaitis (IL), Joe Michna (FL), and Kevin Stott (CA).
It should be no surprise after all those years of service on and off the field, that Pat Smith has been honored by his colleagues, his students and his friends. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, the College Soccer Hall of Fame, the Southern Ohio Soccer Association Hall of Fame, the Adult League Hall of Fame and the High School Coaches of Ohio Hall of Fame. He is also the recipient of the S.A.Y. soccer gold boot award, the College Coaches Appreciation Award, the NISOA honor award, and the first-ever Eddie Pearson Award for contributions to the national referee program of the United States Soccer Federation. He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Earlham College for his contributions to the sport of soccer in Ohio. In 2004, the USSF region II referee program established the annual Pat Smith award to honor the referee within that region who has made significant contributions to the development of the referee program.
Despite all of his accomplishments and influence in the soccer world, Pat remained a humble man who found the time to help coach his grandson’s high school soccer team, read to children at local elementary schools, teach the laws at coaching clinics, and observe and encourage beginning referees. A better husband, father, grandfather, player, coach, referee, volunteer, mentor and friend could not be known.
By: Bob Evans and Gary LeMay
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