Dear Parent,

AYSO is 100% volunteer run. The region cannot function unless we have volunteers running the board, helping with field set up and take down, and most importantly, officiating the games.

You may say to yourself, “I know nothing about soccer.” I knew nothing about soccer many years ago when my kids played AYSO soccer. We will train you about the laws of soccer. During your first season as a referee, we are primarily looking for you to work as an assistant referee only.  However, many folks who became regional referees enjoyed officiating and later took additional classes to improve their skills so they could referee higher level games and many continued to officiate long after their children moved on from AYSO.

Below is the Referee Points Policy that was reviewed and approved. Please read and review the policy below. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

AYSO Region 33

Referee Administration

SUMMARY:

The purpose of the Referee Points Policy is to help ensure that AYSO Region 33 recruits, trains, certifies, and fields enough volunteer referees to officiate at our Region’s games. In this Program, volunteers agree to referee games during our Regional Regular Season and Preliminary Playoff Rounds.

REQUIREMENT

To participate in the playoff rounds for Divisions 10u through 14u, a team must have earned the lesser of (i) 15 Referee Points or (ii) 1.5 Referee Points for each game the team has played at Balboa Park by the end of the regular season, regardless of how well the team performs.

SPECIFIC GUIDELINES

Definition of “Referee”:  A referee is a parent, sibling, or relative who has completed and passed the Regional Referee Course (or higher).  Prospective volunteers must be at least 12 years old. Prospective volunteers under the age of 18 must have parental consent.

Training:  During the regular fall season, a Regional Referee Class will be offered by the region or additional regions in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valley. A  refresher course may be required for any referee who has previously taken the Basis Referee training and has not refereed for one or more years. The Referee Administrator will make this determination.

REFEREE POINTS:

Two (2) game assignment points are awarded to a volunteer who completes an assigned game as a Center Referee (CR) and one (1) game assignment point is awarded to a volunteer who completes an assigned game as an Assistant Referee (AR). Multiple games on the same day earn multiple points. Points are awarded only to volunteer referees who are:

a.  Certified as AYSO Referees (have successfully completed the Regional Referee and Safe Haven courses and submitted an AYSO Volunteer Application during the current season).

b.  Completed their referee assignment(s) in an approved uniform. (NOTE: Club lines persons (an individual who is not certified) do not earn volunteer points).

c.  Referees need to instruct the region how to allocate them by completing the back of the game card. The referee should print their name and the team number receiving the point. For example, Team #1 in 10u Boys division would be 10B1 or Team #7 in u12 Girls would be 12G7.

d.  No points are awarded for missed assignments or failure to complete a game.

e.  To ensure an equitable allocation of games, the Regional Referee Administrator has the discretion to limit the maximum number of points that can be allocated to a single team in any given weekend to four (4).

f.   In cases of dispute, the Regional Referee Administrator is the final authority on the decision to award volunteer points under these guidelines.

Referee Points expire at the conclusion of the regular fall Season.

TEAM RESPONSIBILITY TO RECRUIT REFEREES AND TRACK POINTS:

While individual referees are welcome to sign up at any time, it is each team's responsibility to recruit its own volunteers to sign up to referee. Volunteers are encouraged to attend the training classes before teams are formed and teams may have more than one trained referee.  First-time referee volunteers must fill out an AYSO Volunteer Application form and attend the Regional Referee and safety-related courses before any Referee Points can be earned, each team should endeavor to identify prospective volunteers and encourage them to sign up as early as possible after team formation.

It is each team's responsibility to track whether their volunteers are likely to earn enough Referee Points by the end of the preliminary playoff games to meet the minimum required number of Referee Points. While every effort will be made to record referee points accurately, each referee should maintain a separate record of Referee Points earned.

ALLOCATION OF REFEREE POINTS TO TEAMS:

Referee Points earned by a volunteer referee belong to that referee until they are allocated to a team. The guidelines for allocating points to teams follow.

1.       When a volunteer signs up to referee, he or she is responsible for specifying which team should be allocated the Referee Points. A Referee Point may ONLY BE ASSIGNED to one team (NO splitting a point between two or more teams).

2.       Points earned may be allocated to any team in conjunction with the rules spelled out above.

3.       Referee Points belong to the referee who earns them. Allocation decisions by a Volunteer cannot be appealed.

4.       Non- affiliation referees (no connection to a team) cannot allocate their referee points to team(s).

NOTE:

No one except the AYSO Region 33 Commissioner and Regional Referee Administrator may grant an exception to these guidelines. These guidelines may be revised as necessary by the AYSO Region 33 Commissioner and/or Referee Administrator.