CDSRA - Calgary District Soccer Referees Association

First on-field appointments at the 2026 FIFA World Cup for our very own Drew Fischer and Micheal Barwegen as they officiate France versus Iraq today in Philadelphia. All the best! We’re rooting for you!

Congratulations to Eliana Nanji, Brianna Strem, and Julie Bonnal, who were selected to officiate the inaugural Rocky Mountain Rumble Gold Medal Match this past weekend.

All three officials are members of the CDSRA’s Centre for Advanced Referee Development (CARD) Program and are products of our referee development pathway. Their appointment is a reflection of the continued success of our development programs and female officiating initiatives, which are focused on supporting, mentoring, and advancing women within the referee community.

Congratulations on this well-deserved achievement and excellent representation of officiating in our region. 👏

L-R: Eliana Nanji (AR1), Brianna Strem (Referee), Julie Bonnal (AR2).

First appointments at the 2026 FIFA World Cup for our very own Drew Fischer & Micheal Barwegen as they begin their World Cup campaign on football’s biggest stage. We’re rooting for you!

The CDSRA Referee of the Month features referees of different ages, levels, and backgrounds to reflect the diversity in our referee community and our association. Our May 2026 Referee of the Month is Duncan Chan.

To learn more about Duncan and his journey as a referee visit, cdsra.org/news

The CDSRA is pleased to announce and confirm its Board of Directors following the association’s 44th Annual General Meeting held on April 23, 2026.

We extend our sincere congratulations to all elected and appointed Board Members and express our appreciation to the many volunteers, committee members, and leaders whose passion, leadership, and commitment continue to strengthen and advance refereeing within Southern Alberta.

We also extend our sincere thanks to our valued partners and stakeholders whose collaboration and ongoing support continue to contribute to referee development and the advancement of soccer across our region.

Together, we will empower referees of all levels by fostering an inclusive and development-focused environment that helps officials learn, grow, and become the very best they can be.

To learn more about the CDSRA’s leadership team visit cdsra.org/our-team

📸 Last month the indoor season wrapped up with ‘s nations cup tournament. This tournament always serves as a fantastic environment for challenging games for our referees. Congratulations to all who were a part of this tournament.

We’d like to thank Maureen Farrell, Rebecca Paquette, and Bevon Phang for their work as part of the referee committee for this tournament.

We’d like to recognize the referees who were involved in the finals for this tournament.

📸2 - O45 & O35 Men Finals : Robert Jido, Vuk Filipic

📸3,4 - Women’s Final - Martin Kuczaj, Laurie Darvill

📸5 - Men’s Open Final - Jerrod Pivarnyik, Luke Garland

The CDSRA Referee of the Month features referees of different ages, levels, and backgrounds to reflect the diversity in our referee community and our association. Our April 2026 Referee of the Month is Ilya Ovechkin.

To learn more about Ilya and his journey as a referee, visit cdsra.org/news

The Calgary District Soccer Referees Association is proud to congratulate CDSRA members Drew Fischer and Micheal Barwegen on their appointments as Referee and Assistant Referee for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be held across Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

This appointment marks another historic milestone for Canadian officiating. After serving as a Video Match Official at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia/New Zealand 2023, Drew earns his first appointment as a Referee at the FIFA World Cup. Drew first joined the FIFA International Panel in 2015, marking the beginning of a decade-long rise to the top of the global game. 

For Micheal, this will be his first FIFA World Cup, continuing a rapid rise since joining the FIFA International Panel in 2018.  His trajectory has included the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 alongside Drew—firmly establishing himself among the top assistant referees in world football.

To learn more, visit cdsra.org/news

📸 Thank you to those who sent in their photos from recent tournaments. Crew photos are included from the Family Day & CMSA March Mayhem tournaments, as well as ASA and ACAC provincials. If you’d like your referee photos to be posted, please send them to us!

We’d like to recognize crews for some of the medal games at recent tournaments.

📸1 - ACAC Futsal Championship
L:R - Luke Garland, Adam Benani, Garth Elgie, Joshua Gall, Phillip Schrod, Michelle Holmes, Greg Young

📸 2&3 - U17&U15 March Mayhem Final:
Torren Balzer and Diogo Alvarez

📸 4- BU17-2 Gold medal game crew:
Diego Menjivar (AR2); Freddie Zaher (R); Alex Baryshev (AR1).

📸 5 - Family Day Tournament
Brody Parafina and Doug Walker

📸 6 - BU15-2 and BU15-1 Finals
Kristian Bodnar and Ilya Ovechkin

📸 7 BU13-2 Final
Anson Dai and Richard Nkemnyi

📸8 GU11 Final
Kalea S.

Congratulations to our local officials who were appointed to the Futsal Canadian Championship last week April 9-12 in Calgary. 11 officials from Calgary were involved in the tournament, as well as two of our local assessors.

📸 Calgary officials at the FCC L-R:
Mustafa Abed
Adam Benani
Shaelyn Holdaway
Hassan Rahmouni
Xerxes NG
Adam Tahir
Mingyang Chen
Joshua Gall
Phillip Schrod
Emily Gall
Luke Garland

We’d also like to recognize the officials who were involved in medal games.

📸2-3, Women’s Gold 🥇:
Phillip Schrod R3, Adam Benani R4, Emily Gall TK

📸4, Women’s Bronze🥉:
Shaelyn Holdaway R1, Joshua Gall R2

📸5, Men’s Bronze 🥉:
Adam Benani R3, Hassan Rahmouni TK

Learn more at CDSRA.org/news