Author Randy Vogt will be speaking on refereeing at the Soccer as the Beautiful Game international soccer conference at Hofstra University at 3 pm on Saturday, April 12.
Randy Vogt started refereeing in 1978 at the age of 16. A few years later, he read Fair or Foul? by Larry and Paul Harris, which greatly guided his career as a soccer referee. As the years went on, Randy wondered which book refs turn to today for guidance. So he read the few soccer referee books on the market. All had good points about them but none were the quintessential guide for referees as Fair or Foul? was. With the knowledge gleaned from over 8,000 games and hundreds of clinics, Randy knew that he was in a unique position to do something about it.
In 2006, he started writing Preventive Officiating, which takes the concept of preventive medicine--avoiding problems before they begin--and applies it to soccer refereeing. After the manuscript was finally completed in 2009, he realized after being rejected by many publishers that none of them were willing to take a chance on a debut author writing about a niche subject. So he spent thousands of dollars to self-publish Preventive Officiating four years ago.
Randy thought it was a good omen that the first person to buy his book lives in Mariah Carey's old apartment (years before she became famous). Today, Preventive Officiating is one of the rare self-published books and e-books that has made money. It has been solidly in the Top 20% of all sales on Amazon since publication and 85% of the reviews on book websites are five stars, the highest rating. Randy supports sales by speaking at book signings, soccer conventions and referee meetings plus authors a syndicated referee column as well.
He is very happy that Preventive Officiating is printed in the United States and he gives a small portion of all American and Canadian sales to charity organizations in those countries.
Stan Musial: An American Life author George Vecsey is on the left and Preventive Officiating author Randy Vogt is on the right at the Book Revue in Huntington, New York, which recently sold out of both books.
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