Shama Maemae is anticipated to become the first Solomon Islands FIFA Women’s Referee – main match official.
The soon-to-be 29-year-old from Fataleka, Malaita province was introduced into football refereeing after leaving high school education early – pursuing a career that gradually led her close to writing history.
Growing up she always has an interest in sports. She became an athlete in the sports of athletics.
Then, during a regular morning jog with her team of athletes they met the Solomon Islands’ first FIFA World Cup referee, Matthew Taro.
“He asked us if we have interest in taking up football refereeing. Nervous, me and my friend just gave him a nod and he told us when and where the referee training is,” Shama recalled.
Shama and her friend decided to join – undergoing a basic referee course and training with a team of referee instructors.
For her friend that interest was brief.
“But I continued. Somehow, I found it motivating to get to know others with similar interests so I continue until today. I also made the decision to leave my employment as a waitress at the Coral Seas Resort because I could not manage work and training on a daily.
It took her 3 years to undertake 2 FIFA MA referee courses (conducted by FIFA through OFC) and experience officiating in domestic competitions – Honiara Football Association (HFA) Division 1, 2, and the Solomon Cup back in 2017 as an Assistant Referee (AR).
The same year she was accredited and promoted to officiate as an assistant referee at tournaments for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).
Her first outing was at the OFC Women’s U-16 World Cup Qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. She continues relishing her passion and in 2018 she went again as an assistant referee at the 2018 OFC Women’s Nation Cup in New Caledonia.
“I get to travel a lot, and I enjoyed every single thing about it – my profession. I had to sacrifice giving up some of my interests and hobby and show commitment because if being too comfortable it won’t be easy.
In 2019 she was switched from the sidelines and into the center field as the main referee.
“There are no female referees we have here in the country because of traditional norms and the mentality of seeing football as only for males – but no, I have built confidence with encouragement from my assessors to prove my potential.
Her first-ever appointment as a match referee was in 2019 at the OFC Women’s U-19 tournament in the Cook Islands.
Last year she made a breakthrough at the Oceania level – officiating as the main match official in the Grand Final at the 2022 OFC Women’s Nations Cup in Fiji.
With FIFA accreditation on the horizon, she was also one of the fortunate referees in the country to be introduced to the newly established FIFA Video Assistant Referee (VAR) seminar in Sydney, Australia.
“I get to learn about the referee terms used with VAR. It was a whole new experience for us participants from the region.
Recently, she was part of five referees represented at the OFC Elite Match Official seminar in New Zealand last month – where all five passed their FIFA fitness tests and now she’s a regular in the Telekom S-League (TSL) competition.
“I’ll get that FIFA badge hopefully this year or next year,” she giggles.
The Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) Referee Development Department confirmed Shama as the top SIFF candidate for FIFA Women Referee accreditation this year.
SIFF Referee Development Officer (RDO) Hamilton Siau said that Shama deserves to get the pin, and his department will be expecting a FIFA request in June where all her formalities will be forwarded.
“We are expecting a request from FIFA in June for new candidates. Shama has been officiating as a match official under OFC for four years and it has qualified her for the FIFA badge. Definitely, if she passes her fitness and medical test she gets that pass,” Siau said.
- SIFF Media
