Karen Abt
Karen Abt has ascended a great deal since she last officiated a high school soccer game in 2009, as she has spent the past seven years as a professional official on the FIFA panel, the world’s highest level of officiating.
A Colorado native, Abt will soon return high school action when she takes the field to referee the Class 5A girls soccer state championship game between Rock Canyon and Broomfield on Saturday at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.
(Karen Abt)
“I’m really excited to referee one of the Colorado high school state championships because it allows me an opportunity to give back to soccer,” Abt said. “The game and the people I have met over the years have afforded me so many opportunities to travel the world, experience things I had never imagined and make life-long friends. So, it is important to me to give back to the game so that others can enjoy as well, and aspire to achieve what I have.
“I want to encourage and inspire our younger referees, and for them to know that the opportunities are limitless if they put the time and effort into officiating. And just maybe, even get some of the players to consider officiating at some point. There is also a purity about high school soccer. They are playing for the love of the game. I’m looking forward to that.”
Abt grew up in Fort Collins and went to Rocky Mountain High School. She has been on the FIFA panel since 2016. She works at the Colorado School of Mines in the Advanced Steel Processing and Products Research Center and in her minimal free time, trains and referees.
On Saturday, Abt said she is looking forward to an opportunity to help serve the Colorado high school soccer community that helped her get to where she is today.
“I am most looking forward to working at home with my Colorado referee family,” Abt said. “I travel so often that having a weekend at home is a gift. I’m excited to work with those who have encouraged, supported, and helped me along the way. There’s a comfort in coming home to the mountains and my soccer family.”
In 2019, 17-year-old Patricia McCracken officiated the 5A boys state championship game.