Terry Vaughn (April 1, 1973 – May 4, 2023) was an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

referee.

Early life

Terry Vaughn was born in

Mount Vernon, Iowa Mount Vernon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Lisbon. The population was 4,527 at the time of the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Mount Vernon ...

, on April 1, 1973. He graduated from

Iowa City West High School Iowa City West High School is a public high school in Iowa City, Iowa. It serves grades 9-12 for the Iowa City Community School District. Athletics The Trojans compete in the Mississippi Valley Conference in the following sports: *Cross Coun ...

in 1992, where he was a wrestler and soccer player. He attended

Coe College Coe College is a private liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was founded in 1851 and is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The college is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and the Associat ...

and decided to enter refereeing instead of continuing his career as a player.

Career

In 1998 Vaughn became a National referee for the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

. He continued to hold a referee license until his retirement in 2012. During his career, Vaughn officiated 237

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

matches. Vaughn was appointed to the FIFA panel in 2003 and oversaw matches in the 2009 and 2010

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

, the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

, and the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United States ...

. Vaughn was also a member of the FIFA Panel for the United States Soccer Federation.

Personal life

Vaughn was diagnosed with

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is a neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental abilities. A general lack of coordination and an unst ...

, an inherited

neurodegenerative disease A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

, at the age of 30 in 2003. He retired from refereeing in 2012 after his symptoms worsened. He died on May 4, 2023. As a show of solidarity, PRO referees started wearing blue wristbands with "HD" (for Huntington's Disease) during May, Huntington's Disease Awareness Month. This began a trend of referees from grassroots to PRO wearing the bands year - round. US Soccer's official uniform supplier began selling the wristbands with the proceeds going to Terry Vaughn's family to help offset medical costs. A page on

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...

was founded to help Terry and his family pay medical bills by a fellow referee.

Legacy

The Iowa Referee Academy has been renamed the Terry Vaughn Referee Academy in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, Terry 1973 births 2023 deaths American soccer referees People from Mount Vernon, Iowa Deaths from Huntington's disease People with Huntington's disease