
By Patrick Lujan
Long-time football and basketball referee John Benavente was recently voted as the new President of the Marianas Sports Officials Association.
He now has the task of leading all sports officials on island. Before a busy season kicks off – especially with youth and high school football going on simultaneously – GSPN caught up with ‘German’ Benavente with 10 Questions:
1) Congratulations on being named the new MSOA President. What are your immediate plans as President?
– Besides the continuing effort to collect on invoices to get officials paid in a timely manner, I am working closely with fellow board members to update our by-laws.
2) What are your long-term plans?
– Long term we need to look at recruitment and retention of new officials. We have many “senior” officials and need to recruit and train our future successors.
3) Football season is just around the corner with youth and high school going on at the same time. Do you have enough officials to cover all those games?
– We have just enough to cover the upcoming football season. We have recruited five new officials and will be able to cover the two leagues and the over 150 games scheduled through October.
4) How do you recruit or look for good officiating on island?
– Most of our recruits have no prior experience. We train them from the ground up. The key element is you have to love the sport. We can teach you the rules, mechanics and technical interpretations, but the desire has to come from within.
5) With football outside, being played rain or shine, what does it take to be a good football referee?
– The pouring rain and intense heat do test all your abilties. The biggest challenge facing officials is maintaining the concentration level for the amount of games being performed.
6) What’s some of the common misconceptions of a referee?
– The most common misconception of officials is that we make bad calls. They do happen, but not as often as people think. The position of the official, the view of the play, the judgement of the official all come into play on our decision. Without the benefit of instance replay like the professional leagues, we still depend on the official to make the right call.
7) What are some of the funniest names you’ve been called on the field or on the court?
– Funniest names called #&@$_ are not suitable for print. Suffice to say that just when you think you heard it all….someones comes up with something new and colorful.
8) Now that you’re overseeing all sports, which sport do you have to get familiar with the most?
– Actually as President my goal is to watch all sports as much as possible. I personally officiate over 200 football and basketball games. This year I will make time to watch volleyball, wrestling, track and field and cross country.
9) What can the sports fans expect out of you as President?
– As far as expectations go fans should see an improvement in the service we provide to the various sports that we officiate. We are striving to improve our standards and hope that we raise the bar to a higher level.
10) If the public wants to try their hand at being a referee, who do they contact?
– If anyone is interested in joining our officials in any sport contact me John B. 777-3413 and I can get you in contact with that sport’s commissioner.


Foody’s Fun Facts
Foody’s Fun Facts with Makayla Atoigue
ND Royals Rugby Player Makayla Atoigue lays down her Foody’s Fun Facts and shares her dream vacation spot
GPS Sports Calendar
May 2022
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
- SU
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 1
Events for May
2nd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET #4
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
3rd
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA RUGBY LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL QUARTERFINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
5th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
6th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL SEMIFINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
7th
GPD HOT PURSUIT 5K
MARIANAS OPEN
ISA MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD
ISA RUGBY LEAGUE
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for May
9th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET #5
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
10th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER All-Star Meeting
IIAAG GIRLS BEACH VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG GIRLS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL FINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
10th
Events for May
12th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL ALL-ISLAND MEETING
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
12th
Events for May
14th
14th JUDICA CRABAO 5K
ISA MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD
ISA RUGBY LEAGUE
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA GIRLS SOCCER FINALS
Events for May
16th
ISA TRACK & FIELD ALL-ISLAND MEET
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE All-Star Meeting
Events for May
17th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
18th
ISA RUGBY LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
IIAAG GIRLS MIDDLE SCHOOL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Events for May
19th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
20th
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL All-Star Meeting
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
21st
Pre-Memorial Day 13-Miler
GETTING GUAM HEALTHY 5K BUBBLE RUN/HEALTH FAIR
ISA MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD All-ISLAND MEET
ISA RUGBY LEAGUE FINALS
ALPHA WARRIOR ESPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE FINALS
2022 Guam Track & Field National Championships
Events for May
23rd
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL SEMIFINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
24th
Events for May
26th
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL FINALS
GUAM MAJOR LEAGUE
Events for May
27th
- 30
- 31
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Events for May
29th
Events for May
30th

Baseball
DODGERS HAND TRITONS FIRST LOSS

Running/Track
FBLG, BMS CONQUER MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD ALL-ISLAND

Volleyball
ROSARIO: BOYS VOLLEYBALL MVP

Baseball
NINETE, JR. WINS 2022 BASEBALL MVP

Running/Track
PANTHERS SWEEP ALL-ISLAND TRACK & FIELD MEET

Volleyball
ROSARIO: BOYS VOLLEYBALL MVP
Foody’s Fun Facts
Foody’s Fun Facts with Makayla Atoigue
ND Royals Rugby Player Makayla Atoigue lays down her Foody’s Fun Facts and shares her dream vacation spot
Foody’s Fun Facts
Foody’s Fun Facts with Makayla Atoigue
ND Royals Rugby Player Makayla Atoigue lays down her Foody’s Fun Facts and shares her dream vacation spot
COMING SOON …
- IIAAG & ISA Championships
- YOUTH FOOTBALL LEAGUE KICKOFF June 4
- GSPN Boys Volleyball All-Star Game
- Pacific Mini-Games in Saipan