Cal South State Referee Administrator and former FIFA and MLS referee, Juan Guzman will serve as the lead instructor at the next Center of Referee Education (CORE) course on Thursday, April 4, 2024 at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, CA from 7:00-9:00 p.m.

JUAN GUZMAN BIO:

Growing up in La Puente, California, Juan Guzman Jr. started playing soccer at the age of 4. He began his refereeing career at the age of 11 in the Hispanic leagues in El Monte, California due to a referee shortage during a men’s adult league final. At the age of 16, Juan was identified by Cal South Hall of Famer and referee icon Heros Baghoumian, who invited Juan to attend a youth referee Mentor Program camp. Shortly after that, he found himself selected to work multiple youth and adult regional and national championships all before he turned 18.

He received his U.S. Soccer National Referee badge at the age of 21, and began working international club friendly matches and in the WPSL. He made his MLS debut in 2011 at age 23 in a match between Columbus Crew vs Kansas City, and was nominated to the FIFA Panel at age 26. He worked over 200 professional matches as either a referee, 4th official, or video assistant referee (VAR). In 2018, he retired from refereeing matches. Juan continues to be the youngest FIFA Referee nominated to the US Soccer FIFA Panel, which he accomplished at age of 26 years and 12 days.

In December 2019, he was announced in the role of State Referee Administrator by Cal South. Since then, Juan has successfully introduced an ongoing series of popular monthly referee webinars featuring top instructors and professional referees which have reached over 40 states and 15 countries. Following the legacy of Heros Baghoumian, Cal South’s Mentor Program has now reached 100 selected referees, and many are reaching the national and professional ranks through our referee camps and continued education.

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