Cal Simons, who last year made local sporting history by becoming the first soccer referee to win the Referee of the Year Award in successive seasons, has been awarded an Olympic assignment by FIFA.

The Class Two official will be a member of the three-man team chosen by soccer's world governing body to officiate during the Olympic qualifying tournament in Jamaica from June 4-8. He left Bermuda yesterday morning.

The teams involved in the Kingston event from the CONCACAF Group I section are host country Jamaica, Antigua, Cayman Islands and St. Lucia.

Simons was delighted about the appointment which is his first since recently becoming one of two locally-listed FIFA linesmen, the other being Gregory Simons. The only two Bermuda FIFA-listed referees are Esten Curtis and Stuart Crockwell.

On this occasion Simons, who is a teacher at West End Primary, was the only Bermuda member called for duty by FIFA's Referees Committee.

"I am really honoured and naturally overjoyed and I am looking forward to representing Bermuda at the tournament,'' said Simons, who has been refereeing locally for eight years.

"Although it's not a refereeing assignment, it still will be the highlight of my career as an official,'' he added.

The last Bermuda officials assigned to an Olympic tie back in 1991 for the United States versus Canada match in Indiana were referee Rex Osborne and linesmen Roddy Burchall and Curtis.

For the Jamaica tournament FIFA have appointed three referees from the Netherlands Antilles, Surinam and Guyana and linesmen from Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas and Bermuda.

The naming of Simons is the first overseas appointment for a Bermuda resident since Curtis was assigned to act as a linesman at the Pan-Am Games in Argentina in March.

It's possible that all four of the FIFA-listed Bermudians could see further duty in forthcoming Olympic qualifying games, but to date no official appointments have been extended from the world governing body.

Bermuda's national soccer coach Mark Trott has expressed his satisfaction over the dates confirmed for the Olympic qualifying home and away fixtures against Costa Rica.

"Both countries had some input over the dates and now that they have been officially accepted by FIFA we are pleased,'' said Trott. "We actually had preferred the latest possible dates to give us sufficient time to properly prepare for the matches.'' Bermuda's home game will be on July 29 while the away match takes place in Costa Rica on August 6.

Trott admitted he would like to see Bermuda involved in a few tune-up matches abroad before the first tie, possibly against teams on the eastern seaboard of the United States.

He recalled how vital Bermuda's tour of Germany was in their preparation for the Pan-Am Games, and is hoping a similar arrangement can be made in the lead-up to the Olympic matches.

"But as you know much will depend on finances. Cost will be an important factor,'' noted Trott. "That trip to Germany was beneficial to us in our preparation for Pan-Am, that's for sure.'' CAL SIMONS -- first international assignment this weekend.