We Need You to Referee 8U Games!
One of the often heard complaints from 8U coaches and parents is that there are too many 8U games with no referee. Being relatively new to AYSO, many 8U coaches and parents don’t understand where our referees come from. All of our referees are volunteers just like our coaches, and they are usually parents of players in that division.
At the 8U level, parents often are intimidated by the thought of refereeing. This is unfortunate because 8U is the perfect entry-level referee position! The job is much simpler than at the older levels–there is no keeping score, no offside, and very few intentional fouls. The main job of a 8U referee is to keep time, get the ball back in play properly (throw-ins, goal kicks, corner kicks, kick-offs), and keep the kids safe. Since most of the kids don’t know what they are doing out there, there is a lot of instruction on the re-starts–and the players rarely second-guess a call because they have no idea if the ref is right or wrong! They are 5, 6, and 7 year olds–our adult referees can stay one step ahead of them without much difficulty! Really.
Weeks Your Team For Which Your Team is Responsible. Since we need 8U parents to referee 8U games, we are requiring each 8U team to be prepared to provide a referee for their assigned games. A schedule of the referee assignments will be posted. Note that since there is an odd number of weeks, some teams will cover five games and some will cover four games.
Signing Up for Games. For your assigned week, you will need to sign up to referee your game online, just like the rest of our referees. The referee schedules are accessible from the "Referees" tab on our website. Sign-ups are available all season but must be done no later than noon on the Friday before your assigned Saturday game. Scheduling over 100 referee positions EACH WEEK is a very demanding task; please do not make our Regional Referee Administrator’s job more difficult than it needs to be.
It is possible that you will get lucky and your game will be covered ahead of time, as we do have youth referees and new 10U adult referees who want to get their feet wet at the 8U level. If so, enjoy your found time!
Referee Requirements. Your team may fulfill its referee responsibility by everyone taking a turn, two or three willing volunteers, or one dedicated parent who wants to do them all. That is up to you and your team. ALL parents who are going to referee must fulfill certain requirements; you should get going on this now. All 8U referees will need to:
(1) Register as an AYSO volunteer referee through your Sportsconnect Account (including background check and livescan fingerprinting)
(2) Take the online Safe Haven course by clicking the "Volunteer" tab after you're logged in then click the "AYSOU" button then click "training Library" to find the course.
(3) Take the CDC Concussion Awareness course by clicking the "Volunteer" tab after you're logged in then click the "AYSOU" button then click "training Library" to find the course.
(4) Take the Sudden Cardiac Arrest course by clicking the "Volunteer" tab after you're logged in then click the "AYSOU" button then click "training Library" to find the course.
(5) Take the online 8U Referee course by clicking the "Volunteer" tab after you're logged in then click the "AYSOU" button then click "training Library" to find the course.
All 8U certified referees will receive a referee t-shirt and a whistle at the referee tent on game day. There will also be 1 - 2 optional field training sessions at Damon Garcia on Wednesdays, where you will be able to gain instruction on how to manage a 8U game. See the schedule section under the REFEREES tab on our website for dates and times of the optional field sessions.
Volunteers are also welcome to become a fully certified referee. To do this, you must take the Online Regional Referee training through eTrainU and then attend the Online Regional Referee Companion Course. The Companion Course is typically offered 3 times in San Luis Obispo at the beginning of the fall season. Fully certified referees receive a referee jersey, socks, whistle, AR flags, and the all-important red and yellow cards (very handy for use at home!). Referee gear orders are usually taken at the training session. You are then eligible to begin refereeing 8U and 10U games.
We Need Your Help! We know that this requirement is going to cause some angst for some and that it puts a burden on the coach to get it done. One suggestion is to get a parent volunteer to be your team’s referee coordinator, who will take responsibility for getting parent coverage for your team’s assigned games. It is also important to share with all parents that AYSO is an all-volunteer organization. Just as our coaches are parents who stepped up and volunteered, often with trepidation and arm-tugging, we need other parents to take on the referee component in order to make our program work. And who knows? You may find that you enjoy it! Really.
Thank you for all you do and your support of AYSO and our players!
599 Regional Referee Admin: Mark Westley, [email protected]