Encarnacion has early start on his calling
Like many high school students, Josh Encarnacion’s path to refereeing started with dollar signs.
A three-sport athlete at Interboro, Encarnacion spent weekends on the soccer field. So in the quest for a high school job, he figured he could do worse than picking up refereeing gigs for a few extra bucks.
What Encarnacion perhaps didn’t realize, when he worked for the first time at an Under-15 tournament at Shipley School in 2013 when he was scarcely older than the competitors, was how much he’d enjoy it, or how quickly he’d take to a demanding avocation that isn’t for everybody.
“No one gets into the job to become a top-level referee,” Encarnacion was saying last week. “What started with me is it was a way to always be around the game, and it’s a better paying job than working at a local deli or something like that.
“That’s what started me, but after my first game, I just really loved it, kept getting involved more and more, kept wanting to grow as a referee.”
That interest has blossomed into a full-fledged career path for Encarnacion, who last week was one of 96 referees nationwide selected to travel to Frisco, Texas, to officiate at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships, a prestigious assignment for a referee who is just 19 years old.
He worked eight games at the weeklong tournament, at a two-a-day clip in prelims. He was in the middle for an 18-year-old boys competition semifinal and the 18-year-old girls plum assignment.
“The experience in itself was absolutely amazing, just to go down there to represent not just the state and the region but referee games with players from across the country,” he said. “That in and of itself was very surreal and it was definitely a moment that I’ll cherish in my refereeing career. It was a great stepping-stone event.”
Encarnacion’s ascendency in the officiating ranks is unusual for his age. The rule of final, a thumb for Tim Snyder, an assignor based in Lancaster County, is to have referees in their teens work games involving players two to three years younger. With Encarnacion, though, Snyder saw the maturity to deploy him for under-19 games when he was just 17.
“As a referee, he’s always working hard,” Snyder said. “He’s trying to do the best for the players, he understands the game and does a good job. … He hustles, he cares about the game and he wants to do a good job.”
Snyder recognized Encarnacion’s talent early and fostered it by regularly pairing him with veteran officials. Encarnacion, a sophomore at West Chester University, lists Snyder alongside two other assignors, Robert Ong and Mike Piercey, as crucial influences.
Encarnacion has collected a fair amount of accolades for his reffing. The Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association named him the Best Young Male Referee in 2015. His burgeoning portfolio includes three USL games, two as a linesman and one as a fourth official. He also was at the helm for the U18 boys Eastern PA State Cup final.
Encarnacion played soccer at Interboro, along with basketball and baseball. His background in the sport informs his sensibilities with the whistle, understanding the nuances of intent in tackles. He recognizes bubbling animosity that can spiral a game out of control and that a good ref knows how to diffuse.
“The soccer instinct, it’s very helpful because you have an idea of what players want to do and when they want to do it,” Encarnacion said. “As a referee, you can almost get in the head of what a player wants to do. As a player, certain fouls would frustrate me. You can get in their mindset and say, why is this player ticked off?”
“Not necessarily being the best player makes you the best referee,” Snyder said. “Understanding the game does. I wasn’t the best player, and a couple of my buddies who referee weren’t the best players, but we understood the game.”
Encarnacion fills a vital niche in the soccer landscape. Raising the standard of officiating across the board is a major facet of growing the game in the United States, and the professionalization of refereeing at the MLS and other pro levels is an understated recent development that nonetheless still has a ways to go. Gallons of ink have been spilled over the shortages of officials in youth sports, with younger generations less willing to endure the myriad verbal (and unfortunately too frequent physical) abuse of players, coaches and parents infected by a growing sense of entitlement.
Snyder reckons that half of the soccer referees in Pennsylvania are under age 18, but the interest often fails to outlast their high school or college playing days. Though some will return to the sidelines if they have kids that participate, Encarnacion is past a crucial inflection point at which many abandon the calling, and Snyder is grateful to see his dedication to the craft growing.
“Unfortunately, too many of the kids see dollar signs and just want to go out to a field five minutes from their house, do 15 games in a weekend, collect their money and go home,” Snyder said. “But Josh works hard in every game, he has his goals of where he wants to go and he was rewarded for it in US Youth Championships last weekend.”
Encarnacion appreciates the way in which his soccer environment has steeled him for the job.
“My mindset is parents are going to say what they’re going to say,” Encarnacion said. “You can’t control it. What you can control is 22 players on the field and coaches. I don’t really get offended by whatever people say. I block it out. But at times, you do have to deal with the dissent, coming from coaches and players. I try to block it out. I think that’s just in my character that I’m very strong minded and I can block that out and it doesn’t affect me.”
It’s also helped Encarnacion home in on an objective. While he’s still undecided on a major at West Chester, his goal in his nonacademic pursuit is clear.
“Refereeing in MLS is the top goal,” he said, “and if I could one day do that, that would be amazing.”