The Bermuda Football Association will host their first ever Referee Symposium March 21st at the Cedarbridge Academy.
Three decorated officials will grace the island, Joe Fletcher, Stephanie Yee Sing and Dianne Fetreira-James will share their experiences and knowledge of officiating around the world.
Fletcher initially began officiating in 1999 in the Canadian Professional Soccer League, after receiving the opportunity from Tony Camacho then the CPSL Director of Officials.
When the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was held that summer in Canada, he was selected to be one of the tournament's assistant referees. In 2007, he was voted the CSL Referee of the Year. In 2012, the Canadian Soccer Association selected Fletcher as the recipient for the Ray Morgan Memorial Award, and the Canada Soccer International Achievement Award in 2015 and in 2018, he was voted MLS assistant referee of the year.
In January 2020, he was named the manager of senior assistant referees for the Professional Referee Organization (PRO).
Jamaica’s Stephanie-Dale Yee Sing one of the country’s FIFA assistant referees, was selected to officiate in the final match between Mexico and Spain of the 2018 Under-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Uruguay.
Yee Sing became one of the first two Caribbean referees, male or female, to officiate in a FIFA World Cup final.
Yee Sing has been refereeing for about seven years, and has officiated at other Under-17 and senior World Cup events.
Yee Sing also officiated in the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifiers in the United States earlier this year.
Yee Sing is once again aiming to do herself and the country proud, as she did at the FIFA Women's World Cup in France last year when she featured at the Semi-Final Stage.
Ferreira-James in 1995, represented Guyana in international matches against Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. She was also successful as a cricket player and took part in International Tournaments.
In 1997 Ferreira-James attended her first referee course, just two years later, in 1999, she received the FIFA certificate. In 2002 she was invited to the U19 World Cup for Women in Canada, where she was entrusted with the direction of the Final between the USA and Canada after good performances during the tournament.
Two years later, she represented her association at the women's soccer tournament during the Athens Olympic Games.
She whistled the group game between Japan and Nigeria and the Semi-Final between Sweden and Brazil . The final of the tournament (USA - Brazil) on August 26, 2004 saw her as the fourth referee on the sidelines.
However, when the main referee, Sweden's Jenny Palmqvist, was injured with the score at 1-1 just before the end of regular time, Ferreira-James took charge of the game in Extra Time and brought it to an end.
At the 2007 World Cup in China, Ferreira-James led two group games. In 2008 she was nominated for the Women's Soccer Tournament of the Olympic Games in Beijing, where she whistled the preliminary round match Germany - North Korea.
