Purpose
The AYSO program is entirely based on the participation of volunteers including parents, Coaches and Referees. The Volunteer Referee Points program is designed to insure matches are conducted in a Safe, Fair, and Fun manner with increased participation of parent volunteers. The goal of this program is to insure matches are properly conducted while equitably distributing the officiating responsibilities to new and returning referees from each participating team. Each volunteer must be properly certified and trained to support this function. The program as explained below applies to the regular fall season; it does not apply to spring season. All Coaches, the Regional Commissioner and Assistant RCs, the Regional Referee Administrator, Regional Referee Staff and Division Representatives should be familiar with this program.

Background
The U9 Division represents the first level of competitive soccer offered by the Region. The season is 10 weeks long with approximately 28 teams having one match per weekend. Therefore, Referees and Assistant Referees are needed to cover 140 regular season matches. Starting in the fall 2017 season, the referee point system will be for U9 thru U14 Core & Extra. In the past, we have relied on our senior referees, most of whom no longer have children in AYSO, to referee more than one game a week. We need to prepare today for the eventually that these fine referees will no longer be able to volunteer in support of our program. Because the Board believes that these goals can only be accomplished by encouraging participation of new adult referees, it will be easier for teams to recruit new adult referees to satisfy the requirements of the program.

Key Elements
The program relies upon the coaches to recruit parent volunteers from their team and then encourage the volunteers to work a minimum number of games during the regular season. The benefit to the team is that their games will be conducted with trained referees. Also, teams with the most points may receive special benefits as determined by the Regional Commissioner which may include the following: ● Trained officials and potentially full referee crews. ● Preference in advancement to postseason play to resolve ties for accumulated points. ● Special prizes or benefits for teams with the most referee points. A negative is that his/her team may not be allowed to participate in postseason play, which includes the Area V League Team Tournament, unless a minimum amount of referee participation has occurred. U5, U6, U8, U16 and above age levels are excluded from this program, but coaches are encouraged to ask for volunteers to support the future growth of this program.

Requirements
Teams must provide a sufficient number of referee volunteers to earn 10 points. These requirements apply to each U9 thru U14 age team. A team’s failure to earn the required points may render that team ineligible for postseason play*. These requirements do not apply to All Star eligibility for coaches or players. All of each team’s referees must be either a certified AYSO Referee (of any level) or Assistant Referee. Teams must earn a minimum of 5 points in each half of the regular season so that referees are available throughout the entire regular season. * (Participation of a team in postseason play is subject to the discretion of the Regional Commissioner whether or not that team has earned the minimum number of referee points. For example, if the highest placed team in a division has earned the minimum number of referee points has lost more games than it won, the Regional Commissioner will determine if that team is eligible for postseason play after consulting with that team’s Division Representative and anybody else whom the Regional Commissioner believes has information pertinent to whether that team should participate in postseason play. If no team in a division earns the minimum number of referee points, then the region will not be sending any team from that division to participate in postseason play.)

Earning Points
The requirements of this program may be accomplished by either Referees (Center) or Assistant Referees supporting each team. Each Referee or Assistant Referee will earn points for each U9 or above match supported as identified in the following table. A referee who misses a game assignment will not receive any points for that game.

Position Points
Referee (Center) 2
Assistant Referee 1

Only certified referees, in full uniform, may earn points under the Referee Volunteer Participation program. The only exception would be if a certified referee, not scheduled to officiate, agrees to officiate a match to provide full coverage. In this case, the referee must report the schedule change to the Referee Administrator within 72 hours of the match to receive credit. In any event, referees will not receive points for officiating matches in which their representing team is involved.

Commissioner
The Regional Commissioner, Referee Administrator or their designees shall communicate and support the Referee Point System to all coaches at the general coaches meeting. Additionally, the Regional Coach Administrator and Regional Coach Instructors will also communicate the Referee Point System to all coaches during each Coach course.

Coaches/Team Parents
The Coaches will be required to sign and turn in to the Division Representatives, no later than the fourth Thursday of August, the volunteer referee form containing the name(s) and signatures of any persons who are willing to volunteer as referees or assistant referees on behalf of that team. Coaches can submit those forms as early as August 1st. The Referee Administrator in conjunction with the CVPA will confirm that the referees on the list fully and timely complete AYSO Volunteer Registration forms before refereeing any games. If no parents volunteer, the form is still to be returned signed by the Coach. It is recommended that Coaches not be the assigned referee for their team; if they do, they shall not referee matches in their Division (e.g. Boys U10, Girls U12).

Specifically coaches and team parents must: 1. Recruit parent volunteers to be team referees 2. Submit the Team Referee Volunteer Form to the Division Representatives on time 3. Contact his/her referee(s) during the season to track points accumulated by viewing the regional website for current referee points information 4. Two weeks prior to the end of the season, contact the Referee Administrator to confirm accumulated points.

Division Representatives
Division Representatives will be responsible for collecting the names of referee team volunteers and providing this information to the Referee Administrator by the beginning of October with the date any new referee volunteer attended the Basic Referee Course, if required. Division Representatives for U9 and older divisions should also remind their coaches to report when a match did not have a referee.

Referee Administrator
The Referee Administrator and their staff will collect team volunteer names, provide training and uniforms, and record points earned during the season. Whether a Referee is qualified to officiate divisions U12 and above is subject to the discretion of the Regional Referee Administrator, Director of Referee Instruction, and/or Director of Referee Assessment. Persons who believe that they are qualified to referee games in those older divisions may request that their qualifications to do so be assessed by the above-referenced regional board members.

Referee Training
Referee training classes will be held before the commencement of the season. Dates, times and locations will be available on the regional and area website. Team Referees must sign a Team Referee Form before the deadline for the submission of those forms, but after successfully completing an appropriate AYSO referee training course. Training, uniform and gear will be provided by the region at no cost to volunteer. Volunteer must schedule training and order uniform/gear through the Region Referee Administrator only.

Reporting
Each team referee will be responsible for reporting his or her weekly assignments to the referee coordinator. The system for reporting this information will either be via the region website or email with the Regional Referee Administrator. Changes to scheduled assignments must be reported to the Referee Administrator or his designee via email within 72 hours of the match. The system reporting details will be finalized and provided before the start of play in the fall. The Referee Administrator or their designee will be responsible for posting accumulated referee points on the regional website during the season.

Scheduling
Online scheduling will allow referees to self-assign matches. However, the Referee Administrator, Director of Referee Instruction or Director of Referee Assessment may reassign a referee based on their ability to manage a particular match. Referees are encouraged to follow the established guidelines for match assignment based on their experience and certification level.

Referee Structure
Referees shall not volunteer for or be assigned to officiate games involving any team that they are coaching or for which children, siblings or other relatives play. As a general guideline, officials should only referee games commensurate with their certification level unless otherwise approved by the Regional Referee Administrator or certified designee. Certification guidelines are as follows: Certification Highest Division* Regional Referee U12 Intermediate Referee U14 Advanced Referee U19 * Highest division a referee should self-assign without prior approval by the Regional Referee Administrator.

Revision History: SL, 2013, JRB, 2015, JRB, 2017, DJM, 2017