Lorenzo Hernandez, a Dallas-based Major League Soccer referee, is one of the youngest referees in the league. He spends his days training in North Texas, preparing to officiate at the highest levels of the sport.

Training Regimen

Hernandez’s training regimen includes sprint workouts at a Cedar Hill middle school track and strength training at MENT Fitness. He also wears fitness trackers to monitor his workouts, recovery, sleep, and training load to help prevent injuries and prepare him for competition.

Hernandez started playing soccer when he was four years old and continued through college. He started officiating as a teenager to make extra money and later decided to pursue officiating full-time. He is now one of only 30 senior match officials in Major League Soccer and the only one based in Dallas.

Refereeing at the Highest Level

As a referee, Hernandez’s job is to make decisions quickly and accurately. He says that referees run an average of 6 to 8 miles during a match and have every decision reviewed. Their performances are also graded to help determine future assignments.

Hernandez’s commitment to his role is evident in his tattoo of a field and the words ‘Law 5’, a nod to his responsibilities as a match official. He says that referees are compared to judges and police officers and must remain completely impartial.

With the World Cup taking place in North Texas, Hernandez had the rare opportunity to support a team without worrying about it impacting his credibility as a match official. He hopes that the curiosity about soccer and refereeing that the World Cup has sparked will continue long after the tournament ends.

Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.