Football's eyes will be on ref O'Leary for Olympics

The Olympic dreams of some of the world's greatest footballing nations could well end up in the hands of a Whangarei teacher.

Tikipunga High School's head of science, Peter O'Leary, has been selected to referee football games at the 2012 London Olympics.

He is one of 16 referees selected by international football association FIFA and will be assisted by fellow Kiwi Jan-Hendrik Hintz and Fijian Ravinesh Kumar. Though the Olympics may not quite reach the dizzying heights of the Football World Cup, its a close second place, Mr O'Leary said.

"I think with football, the World Cup is the holy grail, but the Olympics is the stars of tomorrow and some of the stars of today."

A good performance at the Olympics may well win Mr O'Leary a place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil. Being on the field with some of the best footballers in the world was a huge privilege, he said. "To see things happening around you, it's the best seat in the house."

However, along with the privilege comes the great weight of making the right decisions. "One of the girls I was tutoring today said 'are you nervous?' and I said 'no, not yet', and she said 'you'll have thousands of people watching you and if you muck up we'll know'."

Mr O'Leary said Olympic referees are put through live training exercises with sports psychologists to test and develop their ability to respond calmly and correctly to difficult situations. Leading up to his departure for London in July, Mr O'Leary keeps busy with a training regime set by FIFA. While in London he will be missed by wife Michelle, his sons and the Tikipunga High girls 1st XI football team which he co-coaches.