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T-CYSA Head Referee Letter

T-CYSA has had a long-standing policy that requires each team to provide a trained referee to officiate games. The T-CYSA Handbook encourages teams to certify adult volunteers to be team referees:

Each T-CYSA team must have at least one team referee who participates in the Tri-Cities referee pool. The team referee should be an adult (18 years or older) who has completed the appropriate clinic for their child's age group and is registered with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) ...

[T-CYSA Handbook, Chapter 7.0]

Refereeing is an excellent opportunity for parent involvement in your team, particularly for those parents who do not feel they have the time or skills to commit to other team activities (like coaching!).

Referee Training

Referee training courses are provided through the Tri-Cities Soccer Referee Association (TCSRA). Entry level training is typically provided twice a year, once before the fall recreational season, and once before the spring recreational season. Successfully completing the Grade 8 or Grade 9 clinics leads to the opportunity to register with the USSF as a referee, and to officiate at all T-CYSA matches (including Three Rivers club matches), consistent with local policies, WSYSA recommendations, and USSF guidelines summarized at the end of this letter. Further details regarding referee training can be found on the T-CYSA website under the Referees tab or on the Washington State Referee Committee website.

Referees must recertify and re-register with USSF each calendar year. Re-certification requirements include completing a minimum number of hours of continuing education during the preceding year, and taking and passing a written test. Ongoing training is provided on a monthly basis through the TCSRA. The monthly TCSRA meetings are generally held the second Wednesday of each month from September through June in the T-CYSA Conference Room beginning at 6:30pm. In addition, the TCSRA periodically sponsors intermediate and advanced level training clinics required for higher levels of certification.

How Referees are Assigned to Games

Referees for recreational (U11 and under) teams have been typically provided for each game by the home team; these referees are ideally unpaid adult volunteers. Referees for these games are not required to be neutral (e.g., they may be related to a player or coach of one of the teams), although they are expected to be impartial, consistent with USSF standards of conduct and the spirit of the game.

T-CYSA is considering changes to this system that will involve the assigning of referees from a youth referee pool to recreational games.

Referees for Three Rivers IAL (District) and State (Premier) league home games at the U12 and above level are assigned by the TCSRA. The TCSRA also assigns referees to local youth soccer tournaments. This is normally accomplished by a password-protected self-assignment website that each TCSRA referee has access to. (Public areas of this website can be viewed here.) Self-assignments are restricted based on each individual referee's certification level and overall level of experience. All referee assignments are monitored by the TCSRA Referee Assignor. To prevent potential conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflict, TCSRA strives to make these match assignments neutral. Referees for these games are paid, with the pay scale varying based on the position assigned (Referee or Assistant Referee), the league (IAL or State), and the age level of the game.

Required Training for Team Referees

The following guidelines should be considered when determining the level of training required to referee T-CYSA recreational and Three Rivers IAL/State games.

T-CYSA and TCSRA are in the process of jointly implementing a policy for the assignment of referees that will place a priority on assigning referees to matches for teams that have a trained referee who is active in the TCSRA referee pool. Under the policy, U9 and U10 teams will be required to supply a Grade 9 or higher referee to officiate their games; U11 teams are strongly recommended to have a trained Grade 8 referee; and U12 and above teams will be required to supply a Grade 8 referee to the TCSRA referee pool.

Under this policy, the T-CYSA Head Referee and Club Directors will no longer routinely furnish a listing of currently certified referees for hire ("rent-a-refs") to T-CYSA recreational teams who do not have a trained, volunteer referee with current USSF certification who regularly officiates for their team.

I urge you to identify a parent on your team who is willing to fulfill this important function, and to encourage them to attend an entry level training session. Please contact me via email if you have any questions regarding referees and referee training.

See you on the pitch!