This past week, from October 5 to October 10, SOSA Match Officials Mario Simon and Phil Benevides participated in the SportChek U18 National Championships taking place in Vaughan, Ontario.
Under the supervision of director of officials Bob Sawtell and CSA referee manager Isaac Raymond, there were a group of 32 match officials taking part in the tournament. Many of the games were livestreamed over the course of the tournament, and nightly debriefs took place after all games, most of which were also assessed.
Mario Simon, at his second club championships, was appointed to six matches, two as fourth official (G4 - ABvSK and G12 - QCvSK), three as AR (B6 - PEIvNL, B19 - BCvSK, and G22 - MBvBC for 7th place), and one as referee (G15 - ABvBC, ended 1-0 for AB).
Phil Benevides was attending for the first time and was appointed to five matches, one fourth official (G1 - MBvNS), three as AR (G6 - NSvNB, G16 - SKvON2, and G23 - NLvQC for 5th place), and one as referee (G18 - NSvNL, ended 0-0).
After their return, both commented on the excellent experience they had, and Mario Simon will be sharing some comments at the October 11 referee meeting as to things he learned from the tournament.