Graduate is a football referee in Spain

A series of injuries while playing second-division soccer for Lanús in Argentina led Juan Manuel Cárdenas, a student in the Sports Science and Physical Education program, to pursue a professional degree in that field in Soacha. “When I returned to Colombia and was looking for a place to study, I was recommended to UCundinamarca because of the quality of its faculty.”.

And thanks to the university, which is moving away from professional models focused on simply transmitting knowledge and information in order to cultivate a well-rounded individual—one who embraces life, democratic values, civic responsibility, and freedom—Juan Manuel, as a professional, soon found employment after graduating. “I started working with the Fusagasugá Sports and Recreation Institute as a soccer coach. I organized tournaments for the children, and to avoid the extra expense of the parents hiring a referee, I took on that role, and it went quite well.”.

Thanks to what Americans call networking Through his Spanish-speaking network, his destiny began to change. “There was a colleague who worked as a referee and he told me: ”Come and join the refereeing group.’ One day I decided to go for it and joined the Cundinamarca Football Referees Association. That's how I started my training, and after six months I took the theoretical and physical tests. Then I joined the national testing phase, I did very well, and I became a referee with the Colombian Football Federation in category C. I remained like that from 2016 to 2019.”.

However, the pandemic brought her career to a screeching halt and left her in limbo. By that time, she had already officiated as a referee in the Olaya Tournament, as well as several departmental and national tournaments, achieving a good track record. “We were all left hanging. Then, a friend who is a referee and lived in Spain invited me to continue my career there.”.

He quickly packed his clothes and dreams into a suitcase and landed at Madrid's Barajas Airport, restarting his training process. “I applied to the Spanish Football Federation and began the course. Then I took the written exam, which consists of 45 multiple-choice questions, six of which are about writing match reports—documents that detail the specifics of a match. After passing that stage, I took the physical test, which consists of six 40-meter sprints in under six seconds and a two-kilometer run that must be completed in under 8 minutes and 30 seconds.”.

Today, thanks to the experience he already had in Colombia and the good results of his exams, he was placed in the federation's third division, which is for teams over 18 years old competing for promotion. “My life now revolves around the city of Castellón de la Plana in the Valencian Community, where I referee matches week after week. Overall, things have gone well for me professionally and financially, as I've only been living here for seven months.”.

Now her dreams are reaching for the stars thanks to the lifestyle she has built that allows her to be happy, to love, to live well, and to achieve personal development, as stated in the Transhuman Person Declaration of the University of Cundinamarca. “I want to obtain my FIFA badge and use that as a platform to referee in the Spanish First Division, the Champions League, the Europa League, or in South America in the Copa Libertadores or the Copa Sudamericana.”.

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