Appreciate Fair Play at Dana Cup

In the USA it is not common for players to shake hands and wish everybody a good game before the referee whistles for the first time. Furthermore, it is not normal at all that coaches subsequently thank the referee after a game.

That is what we do at the Dana Cup since Fair Play is a part of the tournament. Blair Sibley wants to bring that tradition with him to the USA. He is at the Dana Cup for the first time, and it will not be the last time he participates.

‘I think that the Dana Cup is a fantastic tournament, and I would like to return,’ stresses the lawyer from New York, who, on the other hand, has his own way of tackling the games. And that is a way that often surprises the coaches.
‘Before the game I go and greet the coaches. I briefly talk about the most important rules and, thus, knowing me makes it harder for them to get angry,’ he smiles.
However, the American lawyer must confess that his approach is not always received well in his home country, where he sometimes has to call the police, who then take him safely to his car.

‘I have overheard coaches, parents and players say that they would be willing to pay $50 to anyone brave enough to hit the referee. For the same reason, I always keep an iron pipe in the car for self-defence but, luckily, I have never had to use it,’ the lawyer from New York says.

‘I grew up in an area in the USA in which soccer is very popular, so that’s my sport. I have never played American football. On the other hand, I played soccer until I turned 50 years old and for the last 10 years I have refereed at small and big games in the USA. For me it’s a natural development from active player to referee.’

Blair Sinclair referees from February to Thanks Giving, and when winter starts in upstate New York, he moves south and referees at two Disney tournaments in Florida around Christmas. The girls play before Christmas and the boys after Christmas. Between the games there is free admission to Disney world for the referee, who has run his own law firm for several years but, today, he is part of a larger law firm focusing on buying and selling of companies on behalf of clients.

‘Nevertheless, I am still a lawyer for some hard criminals, who committed acts of violence in the 1980s. However, the more you work with criminals the more you become like them, so I prefer working with business law,’ Blair Sibley stresses.