With nothing much happening in her home country of Trinidad and Tobago or internationally, Fifa referee Crystal Sobers decided to grace Jamaica with her presence, and by extension, added an overseas flavour to the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup competition.

Sobers, who was invited to the island by former Fifa referee Peter Prendergast, was the referee in the middle during the first-leg second-round contest between Excelsior High and Jonathan Grant at Stadium East on Thursday.

She was assisted by local standout Fifa referee Stephanie Yee Sing and Keoni Denton, while Carvel Banton was the fourth official for the game that Excelsior won comfortably by a three-nil margin.

Though it was not her first time officiating in Jamaica, having in the past called Premier League games, it was Sobers’ first time calling a schoolboy football match in Jamaica, and she enjoyed every bit of it.

“Back home there is hardly games, so I always take this opportunity when the league starts here to get that different environment and different level of the game. So it was a good outing for me today (Thursday) and I think I had an awesome game,” a beaming Sobers told the Jamaica Observer shortly after her warm down.

“I am not surprised by the outcome because I’ve always been watching the schoolboy football and I like the discipline. I must say the intensity of the game was good, both teams came to play and that they did and gave the referee a good run,” she added, while flashing an infectious smile.

While she has officiated at the highest level in and around the Concacaf region, to include senior women’s Olympic Qualifiers in 2016, CAC Games in Colombia and the Concacaf Women’s Championship in Texas last year, Sobers pointed to the significance of officiating at various levels.

“Sometimes we say because we are at that Fifa level, we forget about this level of the game, but sometimes when you go in tournaments you meet this level. So it’s always good to have that balance of what to expect and what not to expect.

“So it keeps your mind thinking ‘hey I need to still have the basics’ instead of being advanced so much. So in this game, it did call for some of the basic stuff,” Sobers noted.

“So pretty much I just told my assistants, you know, be about the basics… don’t think too much of the professionalism and technique because there’s no professionals here and so we are basically back to basics,” she explained.

Despite not having much to look forward to on the international stage for the remainder of this year, Sobers, who was voted the second best female referee in Concacaf last year, is using the visit to Jamaica as part of her preparations for what is expected to be a busy 2020 season.

She is now hoping to once again land officiating duties in the Premier League to cap off her weekend stay.

“This year, we have nothing internationally, so for me right now it is just about maintaining a certain level of fitness because match fitness is much different than if you just train every day. It can give you that boost,” Sobers reasoned.

She continued: “So everything I do from here is preparation, I wouldn’t say I’m preparing for anything right now, but like I said, you have to expect the unexpected as a referee.

“It’s not an easy career but once you have a sense of humour, a willingness to listen and endure tiring training sessions on and off the field, the vast opportunities are there to savour,” she noted.