Hadleigh football official Isabel Chaplin is one of two Suffolk referees heading to America to officiate in the Dallas Cup, which starts tomorrow (Sunday March 24)

Isabel and Emily Heaslip have been selected by the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Ltd) to take part in the tournament.

The PGMOL is the body responsible for refereeing in English Professional football.

Isabel Chaplin (Picture: Suffolk FA)

Referee Emily, 30, and 23-year-old assistant referee Isabel flew out to the States on Friday for the prestigious week-long event which is watched by more than 100,000 spectators each year.

Isabel, who lives near Hadleigh, said: "The Dallas Cup is a well-known tournament and being selected to take part in such a prestigious tournament is a huge honour.  

"I have never been to America, so I am looking forward to exploring a new country. I am most looking forward to having the experience of working with match officials from other countries, although I am not sure how many matches I will be involved in across the tournament."

Isabel, who is an assistant on the Women's Super League, was an assistant referee at two Champions League qualifying matches in Austria last September.

Emily, who is from Bury St Edmunds and regularly officiates on the Barclays Women's Super League, was in the middle for last season's Vitality women's Cup Final at Wembley. 

Meeting Prince William

They will be representing the English FA along with referee Melissa Burgin from Manchester and assistant Referee Grace Lowe from Nottingham.

The Dallas Cup is a long-established international Youth tournament held every spring featuring the best teams from the hundreds of applications received each year.

There will be eight age groups in the boys' categories from U12s-U19s and four in the Girls' category from U15-U19.

Among those teams from abroad taking part are Everton, Fulham and the Steven Gerrard Academy run by the former Liverpool and England captain, as well as German sides Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart and Sao Paolo from Brazil.