Palo Alto AYSO: Referee Recruiting in U7-U12
Lots of Referees are Needed!
In order to provide enough referees for the large numbers of games each
week in the younger age group divisions, Palo Alto AYSO requires that
each
team provide one or more trained referees. The team referees are only
required
to referee their team's games. The coach is responsible for
communicating
this volunteer requirement to the team at the parent meeting, but the
team
as a whole is responsible for providing the volunteers referees.
Refereeing
requires very little time committment and contributes enormously to the
game experience. There is nothing worse than two teams on the field
ready
to play, spectators on the sidelines, but no referee team. Properly
trained
and certified referees are very important to ensure a safe fair and fun
environment for everyone involved. Experienced referees are critically
important in the higher age groups and the only way referees ecome
experienced
is by starting early. Which means now!
We recognize that it can be challenging for a coach to recruit
referees.
See the section on Help with Referee Recruiting
for
a great offer of help from the referee community.
U7/U8/U9 Referees
This is the perfect introduction to refereeing as the fields are small
and the laws are simplified. Each team plays two simultaneous 4v4 games
(5v5 in U9) on adjacent fields. One referee is assigned to each game,
which means
that
each team must provide at least one referee. We strongly recommend that
each team trains two referees, in case one is unavailable for a game,
and
also with an eye towards U10 where we run 3-referee system.
U10 Referees
In U10, each team must also provide one certified center
referee
(Regional badge) for each game in which their team is the "home
team."
[The home team is always listed first in the schedule]. The diagonal
system
(one referee and two assistant-referees on the sidelines) is used in
U10
and it is likely that one or two team assistant-referees will need to
be
available for each game. It is therefore recommended that each
team
have 2 certified referees available for each game.
U11/U12 Referees
This is the age at which we no longer allow the center referee to
referee
a game in which her/her child is playing, owing to the increased level
of competitiveness. Ideally, none of the three referees would be
associated
with either team. However, in recent years we have been chronically
short
of referees at this level. So since 2001, the Palo Alto AYSO board
decided
to require that each team provide a certified referee (Regional badge)
with the expectation that this person will be an assistant-referee at
their
child's game.
Note, if a team does not provide a referee the team may forfeit the
game. Standings are kept in these divisions!
Help with Referee Recruiting
To help with recruiting volunteers, and to help in building the AYSO
team
of coaches, parents, and referees, we would like to make experienced
AYSO
referees available for your meetings. We think that by having
someone
who can answer questions about refereeing, and about AYSO refereeing in
particular, we may get some more volunteers. We'll talk about the
AYSO regional referee, the training classes, and the support system
that
Palo Alto AYSO has for the beginner and the advancing referee.
To invite a ref to your meeting, send me an email message: rra-06@ayso26.org.
Tell me who you are, in which division you are coaching, and
where and when your meeting will take place. I'll do my
best to get an experienced referee to attend.
Looking forward to meeting many of you,
<>Rob Schreiber
Regional Referee Administrator