photo by: Photo courtesy Brian Sloop

Emerson Sloop, second from left, poses with an all-female international referee crew in a tournament on March 28, 2025.

Initially, Emerson Sloop was in it for the doughnuts.

Sloop first became interested in refereeing soccer games at around 12 years old when she saw that the referees got doughnuts after soccer tournaments she played in. Almost five years later, Sloop has around 2,500 games under her belt as a referee and has traveled across the country for large soccer tournaments at various levels and age groups.

Becoming a referee was a joint venture with her dad, Brian. The two became certified at the same time early in 2020 and have spent the last few years traveling together to referee different tournaments.

photo by: Photo courtesy Brian Sloop

Emerson Sloop and her dad Brian pose in March of 2020 after the two became certified referees.

The exciting new venture was quickly put on hold as the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt on recreational sporting activities. Once restrictions eased, the two began working together at tournaments around Kansas, and, eventually, around the country.

“We started by basically always refereeing together,” Emerson said. “It was easier for tournaments to assign us, because we always came in two. More recently, now that we’re traveling more, we like to work separately to be able to get new experiences and work with new people.”

Now that they often don’t work on the same crew, their time together in the car ride home has become special as they recount their experiences to each other.

photo by: Photo courtesy Brian Sloop

Emerson Sloop and her dad Brian take a picture during Emerson’s first tournament as a referee in May of 2021.

Five years in and the rising junior has refereed in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, Tennessee, Florida, Ohio, Maryland and Washington, D.C. In a week, Emerson will be in Indianapolis for a tournament. About once a month, Emerson and her dad are somewhere out of state and refereeing a tournament. The tournaments often pay, too, giving the high schooler some much appreciated extra cash for the typical teenager activities with friends.

There’s a lot that Emerson has learned in her time as a referee, and it has helped her in her playing career. Emerson is a goalie for the Lawrence girls soccer team while also playing on a club team. Her time as a referee helps her understand the game from the officials’ point of view. She knows what they’re looking for at what times, which helps her understand what she can and can’t do.

Emerson has built a solid resume for herself at such a young age. It takes some time to build a good reputation with higher-level leagues and tournaments across the country, but Emerson has built a solid enough body of work at various tournaments that she gets invited to more selective tournaments.

It hasn’t always been easy. It helps that Emerson’s height at 5-foot-10 gives her the appearance of being older than she is, but the older boys tournaments can sometimes be a challenge. Being assertive and strong-willed has been one of the most impactful ways that refereeing has changed Emerson, and that has come from players challenging her due to her age.

“There have definitely been times where I’ve been more underestimated because of my age,” Emerson said. “It’s kind of fun to prove them wrong when they assume I’m going to be younger and inexperienced and floppier in my mechanics. It’s fun to see that light bulb click for them.”

Two years ago, the Sloops refereed in the USA Cup, which featured a score of international soccer teams as well as international official crews. Not only did Emerson get to referee in games that featured different styles of play from different corners of the world, but she also got to see how officials from those regions called games.

Some referees would allow a higher level of physical contact — almost to the point where fights would break out — before reeling things in and keeping the game under control. Others would be quicker to blow a whistle and avoid those altercations at all.

“It’s just an amazing experience to see the different play from the different countries, but also the different styles of calling from the referees and just having everyone together just for all of the same reason for the same goal,” Emerson said.

Emerson may have started her referee journey for the free doughnuts, but she stays for the experiences and the coins.

Soccer tournaments hand out specialty coins to commemorate the tournaments and years, and Emerson has built a large collection. When she travels to different tournaments, she and other referees will exchange coins to replace duplicates and build a broader, international coin collection.

“Our referee coins are a little bit like challenge coins in the military. It’s like whatever you come from, they give you a number of coins to both keep and have some to trade out and around,” Emerson said. “I believe I have around 27 state coins collected.”

photo by: Photo courtesy Brian Sloop

Rising Lawrence junior Emerson Sloop has collected over 25 state referee coins during her journey as a referee.

photo by: Photo courtesy Brian Sloop

Rising Lawrence junior Emerson Sloop has collected over 25 state referee coins during her journey as a referee.

A few of Emerson’s favorites include Emerald City Wizard of Oz themed Kansas coins and a three blind mice coin that features referees as the mice. While Emerson said she isn’t necessarily a knickknack collector, the coins have become a side passion in her love for refereeing.

Emerson’s dad now thinks her love of refereeing might even surpass her passion for playing. Emerson still loves playing the game and hopes to play in college, but when her playing days are over, she has a bright future ahead of her as a referee. With the skills she’s accrued in her short time and the demand for women referees, Emerson has found a place she can thrive within the game she grew up around.

“I would love to be able to continue it further,” Emerson said. “I’ve had some great mentors along the way to help me that will continue to help me progress.”