Edward Ripley: Seasoned Bankruptcy Lawyer Doubles as Youth Soccer Referee

Edward Ripley, a partner in the Houston office of Baker & Hostetler, is an experienced bankruptcy lawyer having represented debtors and creditors in reorganization proceedings since 1985. However, according to the Houston Lawyer, Ripley is also a seasoned youth soccer referee, having called games for youth soccer clubs for the past seven years.

Ripley contends that officiating at soccer games "is a pretty good fit for lawyers," he says, "because we do not enforce rules of the game; we apply the 'laws of the game'." He shares that several of the referees that have officiated at World Cup soccer matches were practicing attorneys.

Ripley's interest in refereeing originated out of a desire to understand the rules he saw officials apply during his young son’s soccer matches. After taking a referee training course, he began calling games for very young children, and then worked himself up to higher levels of competition. He says he's now hooked on the sport, and estimates that he has refereed over 100 games for players of all ages.

Ripley admits that managing parents on the sidelines can be quite challenging. Most are polite, but he observes that "competition sometimes brings out lots of frustration, especially if it is not going well for your team." Since much the same can be said for litigation, Ripley's referee career must surely provide him with good training to remain calm in courtroom settings as well.

Comments

Wow that is a very interesting story there, i'm a referee myself and agree sometimes the parents' behaviour is not acceptable especially when their team is losing