What is the Club Referee Coordinator?Printable

For a list of Referee Coordinators see Services:Ref Coordinators

Every Pensra Client is asked to have a Referee Coordinator.   This individual should not be the Director of Coaching.   In general this individual should not be the Assignor (Assignor is okay if the assignor works for only one club.)   

In order to have a soccer match that is part of an organized league, there must be:

  • Two teams - the players
  • A field with goals (time and date)
  • A referee
  • For youth matches, a registered coach/manager/adult

Clubs often spend resources on the players, coaches and fields; the referees are an afterthought.  A Referee Coordinator works to keep referees a relevant part of a club's operations.  

So what is the role of a referee coordinator?   Every club or league is different.   Every club or league has some unique aspects.   So every referee coordinator will have a different role as a function of the needs of the club/league.

Listed below are some suggested  tasks that a referee coordinator might undertake.  Referee coordinators will will pick which are appropriate for their organization.

LEAGUE LIAISON Some clubs belong to NorCal Premier and NorCal Premier encourages clubs to have a referee coordinator.

MENTORING Some clubs mentor new referees.   The referee coordinator can be the mentor or arrange for mentors for new referees.

SPECTATOR BEHAVIOR The referee coordinator can help educate spectators at club meetings and at home matches about appropriate behavior, referee assault, and good sportsmanship.

REFEREE SUPPORT The referee coordinator can be a formal or informal channel to communicate between referees and assignors and coaches to resolve issues involving referee mistakes, coach dissent, law interpretations.

REFEREE RECOGNITION  The referee coordinator can arrange to recognize outstanding referees at the end of the season.   This can be awards or a picnic lunch.  

REFEREE RECRUITMENT The referee coordinator can arrange for USSF Grassroots referee classes to be held in the local community and publicize such classes.  

REFEREE CONTINUING EDUCATION The referee coordinator can arrange for additional training, pre-season warm up types of sessions for the local referees.

COACH EDUCATION The referee coordinator can arrange for presentations to the coaches on the nuances of the laws of the game. The referee coordinator can encourage a dialog between coaches and the referee community. 

PROMOTE SENSIBLE MATCH SCHEDULING The referee coordinator can work to have the club make match schedules that are attractive to referees and best utilize referee resources.   For example avoid single matches.   Avoid a U12 match followed by a U19 match.   Avoid having three U19 matches at the same time on different fields.    

 

Created 6/25/2022