Tell us about yourself?
My name is Maria Salamasina. I’m 33 years old from the village of Faleula. I’m the oldest in the family of five brothers and three sisters. I attended Faleula Primary School and Sagaga college in my senior years. I love athletics, boxing, baseball and rugby. I work as the Referee Fitness for Football Federation Samoa in Savaii.
How did you get involved with the FFS Referee development role?
(Did someone encourage you to apply? Was the position needing to be filled?
I job hunt when I returned home from the Senior Womens FIFA World Cup in France 2019 by then I had a brief conversation with the FFS President Mr Papalii SL Petaia and he encouraged me to apply for the referee development officer role in Savaii, during that time my husband was on his way to manage the FFS Savaii office. The referee position was vacant, I applied and successful got the job.
What makes the Referee development unique in FFS?
It is unique because not many people like to take on this very important role for a lot of different reasons.
If you’ve been in the role for more than a year, what has been a challenge?
There are a lot of challenges and I like to be challenged in several areas especially when officiating games. One major challenge I face is the abuse of referees during matches. When I say abuse meaning physical and verbal abuse from players and coaches. Dealing with these issues of getting abused on and off the field is very difficult. It will lead in to resignation of referee’s as they don’t deserve the ugly treatment from players, coaches and crowd.
What are you hoping to bring to the success of referee development in Samoa?
Having a Refereeing programme in high schools, implementing new elite programmes (centres and academy) specifically to develop students and new players interest in Refereeing.
Why is the referee’s development important to you?
It is important because I know there are a lot of opportunities offered to referees. From my experience opportunities include courses, seminars and officiating in FIFA and OFC tournaments.
It’s an individual job which requires commitment and a lot of hard work. As most people prefer playing than refereeing however, we can make a living out of it.
Additional Information
Maria has been the lone representative for Samoa in FIFA Womens World Cup and OFC Tournaments where she attended as an Assistant Referee.
