Referee Policy

AYSO Region 122 2018 Referee Bonus Policy for the 10U, 12U, and 14U Divisions:
NOTE: in divisions 8U and below, referees are not assigned games in WebYouthSoccer by our schedulers. Quite simply, the home team provides a referee, and the visiting team provides ARs for their own games. No referee credits are awarded for refereeing these games.

1. To ensure placement in the Volunteer Appreciation Playoffs, during the entirety of the fall season, each U10/11/12/14 team should provide referees for a TOTAL of 18 assignments.

2. Early Season Reward: During the fall season, each U10/11/12/14 team which has provided referee coverage for a minimum of 5 credits (split between both of its referees) in upper division games (U10/12/14/16-19) through game #4 of the regular season, will be rewarded with points equivalent to one additional 1-0 WIN when determining the standings at the middle of the regular season before teams are split into different flights.

3. Referees earn credits by completing assignments (1 per assignment; this includes completed standby assignments, see below).

Each team is limited to earning a maximum of three referee credits per game day (note that on weekends with two game dates they may accrue six referee credits), so do not wait until the last minute to begin refereeing games.

Also note, this rule only restricts you from contributing to the referee credits of more than one 10U/12U/14U (2004-2009) team* – if you also have a child in a lower division (5U/6U/7U/8U [2010-2013]), you are welcome to referee for that lower division team in addition to the one 10U/12U/14U team; however, you will not accrue referee credits refereeing 8U and below. See below for the referee requirements for each 10U/12U/14U team.

The intent of this rule is not to discourage you from volunteering for each of children’s teams, but rather as a response to eliminate the hard feelings felt by some referees when multiple teams they were representing pressured and bartered for more of their referee credits.

4. *Each referee may only represent one team. Special exceptions may be made for referees who have historically worked at least 20 games during the season. Please contact the referee administrator if you are eligible by this criterion. After individual approval by the Referee Administrator, a referee that commits to covering 20 games during the season may represent 2 teams; a referee that commits to covering 30 games may represent 3 teams. Due to software limitations, referees representing multiple teams may only split their games 50/50 or 33/33/33 between teams and may not change the team(s) that receive their referee credits later than game 4 of the season.

Additionally:
– During the five game days of the second half of the season (games 5-9, listed as B1-B5 on the regional calendar), each team will need to cover a minimum of 10 referee credits (split between both its referees), or have completed all 18 of its season assignments by the end of game 9. Any team that does not fulfill this commitment will not be allowed to advance to the volunteer appreciation playoffs.
– In compliance with the above rule, a team may have more than 3 referees, provided they are each properly trained and certified.
– All referees representing a team must be reported to the Referee Administrator before Game 4 and be approved by the Referee Administrator.

An eligible team referee must:
– be a registered volunteer with AYSO for the current season
– have completed the full 8-hour basic (regional) referee course, which is usually offered as a two part course (parts A & B)
– have completed referee or coach safe haven training within the last two years
– have completed concussion awareness training within the last two years
– work qualifying games in the U10 divisions or higher (8U games and below do not accrue referee credits)
– accept assignments through webyouthsoccer: If referees fail to confirm their assignment in a timely manner, we will have to replace them with another referee, and it will not be possible to give them a new assignment. Please check https://r122.webyouthsoccer.com often.

The referee staff will work with coaches and individuals to help qualify eligible team referees, but it is understood that their time is limited and it is primarily the duty of the individual teams to identify and qualify their referees.

The Referee Policy is subject to change and review at the discretion of the Referee Administrator.

Doug English
Regional Referee Administrator
AYSO Santa Barbara Region 122