Team Referees and the Referee Points System

Region 42 strives to provide certified referees for each game at 7U or above. Our goal is to provide one certified center referee for the 7U & 8U games (about 200 games per season) and a team of three certified referees for the competitive divisions, 10U, 12U & 14U (about 300 games per season). In addition to our region's goals, the AYSO organization requires that games be officiated by appropriately trained and certified referees. To allow us to achieve this goal and satisfy the AYSO requirements, we need more than 160 referee slots to be filled each week. In order to ensure that we have those referee slots filled, it is imperative that each team provide volunteer referees. The Referee Points System is used to motivate volunteers to referee.

Summary of the Referee Points System for Region 42

1. Referee Points are only applicable to the standings of teams in the 10U/12U/14U divisions.
2. Referee Points may only be earned by adults (age 18+) (or youths who have an Intermediate badge or higher).
   
3. Center Referee (CR) and Assistant Referee (AR) assignments for 10U/12U/14U games will earn one Referee Point per game.
4. Center Referee (CR) assignments for 8U games will earn half a Referee Point per game. (No points for 8U AR or 7U CR/AR).
5. A team can earn up to two Referee Points per week (per round).
6. A team can earn up to 14 Referee Points per season. These are added to each team's wins/losses points each week as the season progresses.
7. In competitive divisions teams will need to earn a minimum of 5 Referee Points in order to qualify for Area Playoffs. Teams should NOT think that once they've earned 5 Referee Points they are done!

Example of the impact of Referee Points on Team Standings During the Season

The table below shows a hypothetical scenario of standings after week 8 for a Girls 10U division. Six games have been played because the first week was practice games and each week one team has a “bye” week. For each game, wins earn 3 points, Draws earn 1 point and Losses earn 0 points. Note that for the points from wins/losses/draws, Team #02 is in 2nd place, with 14 Points. However, Team #02 is way behind in earning ref points, with only 5 points so far while other teams have earned up to 12 ref points. This means Team #02 is actually in 5th place because their Total points are only 19.

Team Referees

5U/6U Divisions

For 5U/6U the coaches are the referees.

7U / 8U Divisions

In Region 42, the teams in our 7U/8U divisions are ultimately responsible for providing their own officials for refereeing. 7U/8U teams are expected to provide adult team referees who have been certified via the 8U Official clinic (or higher) to officiate during their child’s game as the center referee. Head coaches may not be team referees, but assistant coaches, once certified as 8U referees or above, may. If an assistant coach is refereeing the game, they may not coach while doing so. Spectators who are not certified referees may only help by signaling if the ball has gone out of bounds. The Home team will be the default team to provide the certified referee at each game. Regional referees or 8U Officials who are earning referee points for their team(s) in the competitive divisions (10U–14U) may also sign up to referee any of the 8U games and earn 1/2 (0.5) referee point for an 8U CR (center referee) slot. Note that no referee points are earned for 8U AR or 7U CR/AR slots.

10U / 12U / 14U Divisions (the competitive divisions)

For 10U/12U/14U each team needs to provide at least one adult referee (age 18+) who will referee games other than their own child’s games (See the Referee FAQ for exceptions). They must be certified by taking the Basic Referee clinic (or higher). They will earn Referee Points for their team during the season. Games are self-scheduled in the online Referee Scheduling System. The level of game a referee can officiate depends on their qualification and personal comfort level:

• Regional referees may take any position in 7U/8U/10U games (ARs are usually not required for 7U/8U games, however).
• Regional referees may take an AR position in 12U games after they complete the Offside Workshop.
• Regional referees who have taken the Intermediate Referee course and are in training for that badge may take any position in a 12U game with approval of the referee staff.
  
• Intermediate referees may take any position in 7U/8U/10U/12U games.
• Experienced Intermediate referees may be allowed to officiate 14U games at the discretion of the referee staff.
• Advanced referees may take any position in any Region 42 game.
  
• Reminder: Referee points can NOT be earned for any 7U positions (CR or AR) or for the 8U AR position. 

Note that referees can earn points for a team in one division level even if the game they’re officiating is at a different level. For example, a parent with a child in the 12U Division can earn points for that 12U team by refereeing games in the 10U Division. Also, please note that referee points are NOT earned for 16U/19U games, as those are administered by Area 10E.

The Referee Points System

Region 42 uses a Referee Points system to reward 10U, 12U and 14U teams that supply certified adult (18 or older) referees for our games. Each team is asked to supply at least one adult referee (preferably not the coach) for the season. New referees are especially welcome and needed because they provide an opportunity for us to grow our pool of available referees. Each team’s coach needs to actively encourage parents to volunteer for this opportunity. Referee Points earned by a team’s adult referee are added to the team’s total win/loss points, and therefore referee points will almost certainly affect team standings throughout the season.

A team can earn up to 14 Referee Points per season. As mentioned above, these points are added to each team's wins/losses points each week as the season progresses.

Note that in competitive divisions teams will need to earn a minimum number of 5 Referee Points in order to qualify for Area Playoffs. This means that even if a team’s win/loss points without Referee Points are higher than other teams’ total points with Referee Points, they won’t progress to Area Playoffs unless they have qualified by earning the minimum referee points. Also note that teams should NOT think that once they've earned the 5 Referee Points minimum they are done!

Youths 12 to 17 years old are also highly encouraged to referee. Certified youth referees can earn points toward a separate youth incentive program. Certified youth referees do not earn Referee Points for teams (see exception below).

Referees are AYSO volunteers and each referee must register as a volunteer (note that registering as a volunteer includes a number of steps, so this shouldn't be left until the last minute). Coaches are responsible for ensuring that all of their volunteers meet this obligation. Referees who have not registered as volunteers will not be able to take part in AYSO games and therefore will not be able to earn Referee Points for their teams.

Details of the Referee Points System

• Teams that have a certified adult referee representing them can earn up to a maximum of 14 Referee Points during the season.
  
• Referees and assistant referees earn one Referee Point each per game at the 10U, 12U, and 14U level. Referees only (i.e. center referees, NOT assistant referees) earn 1/2 (0.5) Referee Point per game at the 8U level.
• Teams can earn a maximum of 2 Referee Points per week. Occasionally, it may look like a team has earned more than that in a week, but this usually is due to a correction of some sort (see below).
• Teams can have multiple adult referees representing them for points, but the team can acquire only 2 points per week. If a team has more than one referee we suggest that they coordinate their game assignments. Adjustments will not be made if the multiple referees do not coordinate their referee assignments to meet the 2 points per week team maximum. For example, if the refs for a team earn 3 points in a week, one of those points will not be counted and will not be transferred to a different week. This rule is to ensure a sufficient number of referees every weekend throughout the season. This doesn't mean a referee cannot sign up and officiate games. In that case we do thank you for stepping up and helping to ensure the kids can play.
  
• Referees can earn only 2 Referee Points per week per team. Referees are allowed to represent more than one team if they so choose.
  
• Referee Points will be added to the team’s total points in the standings each week. These can be and often are critical for determining final standings of a team.
• In competitive divisions teams will need to earn a minimum number of 5 Referee Points to qualify for Area Playoffs.
• Because a 8U CR assignments are only worth a half point, a team’s point total may be a fractional number.
• Coaches are responsible for verifying that their team referees are earning points.
• Requests to review or modify point totals may be submitted to the Referee Scheduler up until week 8 of the season. After week 8, point review requests cannot be accepted.
• Some divisions hold night games on weeknights toward the end of the season. Those games may be treated as an additional week.

More Information for Referees

• Each referee must register as a volunteer and undergo a background check every year. Please see the volunteers page for the full set of requirements.
  
• New referees must complete the Basic (Regional) Referee training (or the 8U Official training if they are only going to referee 8U level games).
• Please see the referee training page for details on the courses being hosted in Newbury Park. Courses in other regions may be found at AYSOU.
• Once the season starts, referee instructors and staff are heavily involved in supporting games and other AYSO volunteer activities. Accordingly, Basic (Regional)  Referee clinics will not be available in Region 42 after August and are rarely, if ever, available elsewhere after the season begins.
  
• Volunteers already certified as AYSO referees do not need to repeat the clinics, but they are strongly encouraged to inform themselves about recent important changes to the Laws of the Game. More information about these changes will be provided before and during the start of the season. Information is also available on this website.
  
• Volunteers previously certified at the 8U Official level DO need to complete the Basic (Regional) Referee Clinic to officiate 10U games and above.
• Training and uniforms are free to Region 42 referee volunteers.
• All referees will need to register with our online scheduling system. This system allows them to choose games around their own schedule and is the system where referee points are tracked. The referee will also be able to assign a team affiliation for the Referee Points system. Information about registering in the scheduler system will be provided by email prior to the start of the season and can be found on this website.
• On a normal game day we typically have many open slots that have not been scheduled in the online system. Referees filling in for an additional game can earn their points for that game as long as they enter their information on the master (printed) schedule at the referee shed (across from the snack shack for Pepper Tree games). Be sure to write legibly!! Note, however, that teams can only earn a maximum of 2 Referee Points per week.
• Youth referees (younger than 18 yrs) who are Intermediate level or higher can represent a team for Referee Points, at the discretion of the referee staff.

Reminder: Referee Points will not be awarded for center referee or assistant referee assignments in 7U or for assistant referee assignments in 8U games.