A:  Yes. Annual registration requirements:
In order to be registered at the current grade level, all Referees and State Referees must do the following:

a) Complete the required number of hours of in-service training, take their respective current Referee Refresher written examination;

b) Pass the physical fitness test (Grade 8 & 9 excluded); and

c) Referee the number of affiliated games required by the state association each year at their highest level of competency as provided for in Policy 531-8 Section 5 (A). The registration period runs offset from the calendar year. U.S. Soccer begins accepting registrations September 1st of the previous registration year until June 30th of the current registration year. A registration is valid from January 1st thru December 31st of each year.

Example:
*    2011 Registration Year- (Begins September 1, 2010-Ends June 30, 2011)
             Registration valid 1/1/11-12/31/11

A: Two ways:

  1) Every referee registered receives a mailed registration card from U.S. Soccer upon completing their registration requirements.
  2) You may contact the Colorado Registrar for your USSF ID number.

  NOTE: You do not need your USSF ID number to report competitive games to the CYS on their website.

A: In order for a referee to be upgraded, the referee must have met the time in grade requirements stated in the "Criteria for Certifying and Upgrading" (12 months to upgrade to grade 7,6 and 5; two years to upgrade to National Referee). There is no time in grade requirement for Recreational Referee, Grade 9. Recreational Referees may upgrade to 8 after successfully completing the Referee Bridge Course or the Entry Level Referee Training Course.

Review the upgrade requirement link on the SRA Administration Page.

Referees who have been previously registered as a grade 8 referee or higher may not re-register as a Recreational Referee, Grade 9 or an Assistant Referee, Grade 12.

A: To become a US Soccer Federation (USSF) Referee you are required to attend an Entry Level Clinic given by a specially trained and certified instructor. There is no exception even if you were a player or coach. Two Entry Level courses are offered in Colorado:

• Grade 8 Referee (able to work any level Youth match and preparing to work Adult matches), or
• Grade 9 Referee (able to work all Youth Recreational matches U-14 and younger, and only as an Assistant Referee on Youth Competitive level matches for ages U14 and younger).

For more information, click on the following link: How To Become A Referee.

A: State and Presidents Cup games are different from the regular youth league games. The coaches do not want Youth Referees on their games as center referees, especially if they are planning to go on to a Regional Championship. Too much is at stake for the teams. The assignor tries to use the Youth Referees on games where, potentially, the teams will not advance, or the winner has already been decided. Kohl’s American Cup is different--no teams advance, and this is a local tournament.

Many Youth Referees want to be assigned as the center referee on older games but the answer is "no," since the assignor must answer to CYS. It will not matter how good the Youth Referee is, the teams will always look at them as inexperienced referees. One mistake and they are done. Coaches are more accepting if the youth referee is older than the age of the team they are refereeing. A general guideline an Assignor should use is to assign Referees to games that are no less than one to two years older than the age of the team they are refereeing. The assignor cannot just fill holes because a warm body is needed. Referees can always be found for Cup games. Every referee that is selected to participate in Cup games has the potential to advance, just like the teams, based on performance and assessments from the Referee staff, who are advanced level, experienced referees. Referees are always being watched. The present assignor has been the assignor and Region IV Referee Administrator for 11 years, and this view has never changed about youth referees.

We see more turnover with youth referees each year for various reasons. In Colorado we certify 1,500 each year, and 80% are youth. The number one reason for youth referees leaving the game is referee abuse, and then it becomes no fun any longer. Why would the assignor put the youth referees at RISK?

Have you ever heard the saying that referees must pay their dues? What that means is, they need more time to develop, and that comes with age, experience, maturity and training. Sometimes young referees are placed on lower level games in State Cup with an adult referee. What they need to do from this point on is to work on their game and have the “Wow” factor--where referees and people are saying, "This kid is good! Kevin and Christel, you have got to see him!" Average is not an option here--probably just like being a player. The final factor is the attitude of the referee. If a referee thinks they are entitled to the game, they probably won’t go far as a referee.

Sometimes it's just a matter of getting older, bigger, adjusting little things like posture and the way a referee is perceived. With the right attitude, most of our excellent young referees can go far. And we want to develop them all we can. Assigning them to the right game is the best way to help them in that development.