Hank Greenspun Lifetime Achievement Award: John Kennedy, official

By Las Vegas Sun Staff (contact)

Wednesday, May 25, 2022 | 2 a.m.

John Kennedy would referee a professional indoor soccer game in Monterrey, Mexico, on Friday. The next day, he would be assigned to a game in San Diego.

By the time Monday would roll around, Kennedy would be exhausted from the travel—but never too tired to help the Southern Nevada Officials Association.

It’s rare for a professional referee to officiate a high school match, considering the latter pays significantly less. But if there was soccer being played in Kennedy’s adopted hometown of Las Vegas, the Scotland native wanted to be front and center calling the action. He worked an association-best 17 state championship games over 40 years before his retirement this season.

“I owed it to the kids,” Kennedy said. “I never thought I was better than anyone else.”

Simply put: He’s a legend.

“He’s an official we aren’t going to be able to replace,” Association President Vince Kristosik said. “Everyone, the players, coaches and parents, knew John and trusted John.”

Kennedy estimates working more than 50,000 games in his career, including an eight-overtime NCAA championship game between UCLA and American University in 1985. UCLA won 1-0 after 166 minutes, the longest game in NCAA soccer history.

The 72-year-old Kennedy was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2009, but that’s not why he’s so popular locally—it’s because he never turned down an assignment in becoming an ambassador for the sport.

At the end of his career, he was working games with players whose parents had also played under his watch. “That makes you feel old,” he said with a laugh.