Fisher is reaching her ref goals

Local football referee Wendy Fisher has been appointed to officiate at the Algarve Cup in Portugal in March. 

Fisher will referee at the women’s tournament from Mar. 5-12, which starts with a seminar four days earlier.  

Austria, China, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, and the USA will be competing. 

Fisher has only been officiating for five years but her rise to prominence has been rapid.  

She officiated in the recent Caribbean Football Union Under-17 women’s final in Haiti, the CONCACAF U-15 boys tournament in the Cayman Islands and also in the Caribbean Football Union U-20 women’s tournament in Honduras.  

She was also involved in a friendly in Columbus, Ohio between the U.S. and New Zealand and did an admirable job in all of them.  

“Words cannot explain how excited and privileged I am to be selected,” Fisher said.  

She used to play football with George Town Sports Club women’s team and when it was time to stop, officiating was an obvious option to continue in the sport with the encouragement from top local officials Alfredo Whittaker and Livingston Bailey.  

“I started officiating games in 2009, and in 2012 I passed the physical fitness test to become a FIFA referee assistant for the 2013 list.” 

She has traveled extensively as selection continued. All the traveling may seem glamorous but Fisher has to juggle her time exceptionally well as she works at the Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing as an IT/administrative officer and is mother of three children. 

“It is not easy, but I make it work,” she said. “I would like to thank my children, who are my biggest supporters and Carline Reid-Willis, my training partner.  

“I would also like to thank the Cayman Islands Football Association for the leagues they put together, the football teams in the Cayman Islands as, without these teams, I would not have gained the experience to make it this far, and my referees family, the referees department and my bosses at the Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing, Richard Simms and David Dixon.” 

She used to play football with George Town Sports Club women’s team and when it was time to stop, officiating was an obvious option to continue in the sport with the encouragement from top local officials Alfredo Whittaker and Livingston Bailey.