Our referee instructional year begins July 1 and ends in mid May. Referees who certify or recertify now will receive a 2025 referee badge, may begin officiating immediately and will remain certified through December 2025.  Referees with 2024 badges may wear them through December 2024, though we highly recommend that you recertify now to receive instruction on the recent changes to the Laws of the Game.

We offer five paths to certification and recertification for 2025, though only one of these paths will be appropriate for you, so choose carefully.

There are separate registrations, instruction, certifications, and referee badges for Soccer Referees and Futsal Referees, other roles like Assignor, Mentor, and Referee Coach.  The process for registration and instruction is similar.  The process described below is for Soccer Referees.  When registering for a clinic, for "Official Type" select "Referee" for Soccer Referee, and select "Futsal Referee" for Futsal Referee, etc.

PATH #1: You want to become a referee for the first time and have not registered or started the online training yet.  Welcome!  You will complete a combination of online lessons and an in-person field training session.  The registration and clinic fee is $85.  Click here to begin your referee journey.

PATH #2: You want to become a referee for the first time and started the training in the spring, but did not complete it.  We transferred you into the 2025 Carryforward Online PreClinic, so you can complete the online lessons, then attend the field training session, and be certified for 2025.  There is no additional registration fee or clinic fee for you for 2025.  Click here to continue your training as a new referee.

PATH #3: You were certified for 2024 and awarded a 2024 badge.  You need to complete the annual online training for your recertification.  Your fee for 2025 is $85. No field or classroom sessions for you.  Click here to recertify for 2025.

PATH #4: You were certified for 2022 or 2023 but did not register to recertify for 2024.  You are a lapsed referee, but can still complete the recertification process for 2025 online; no classroom or field session.  The registration and clinic fee is $85.  Click here to recertify as a lapsed referee.

PATH #5: You were certified as a referee in 2021 or earlier, but have not recertified during the past three years.  Welcome back!  You will recertify for 2025 by completing the same online lessons as the new referees and an in-person field training session.  The registration and clinic fee is $85.  Click here to begin.

For more information regarding certification and recertification, please contact your Area Director of Instruction.  Their names and contact information can be found by clicking here.

Important: Read the procedures for completing certification/recertification BEFORE registering for a clinic.  

Posted July 1, 2024

Certification and annual recertification requirements for all soccer and futsal referees.

New Soccer Referee Certification

Online Frst-time Referee Instruction
Online First-time Referee Test
Safe Soccer Training/Healthy and Safe Playing Environment
SafeSport Training (18 and older)
Background Check/Risk Management (18 and older)
Field Instruction Session - 4 hours

Mentoring:  After initial certification, new referees should be mentored at/after games

Soccer Referee Recertification

Online Referee Instruction
Online Referee Recertification Test 
Safe Soccer Training/Healthy and Safe Playing Environment
SafeSports Training (18 and older)
Background Check/Risk Management (18 and older)

Mentoring:  Periodically, referees should be mentored at/after games
 

Upgrade To Regional Soccer Referee

Requirement:  Each Referee:

Prior to attempting the upgrade process to upgrade to Regional Referee,

-must pass a formal practical evaluation as the referee on a competitive Senior Amateur (Adult) Division 2 or above level match; (the purpose of the prerequisite evaluation is to experience the evaluation process and to understand whether the referee is ready for preparing to upgrade)
-must be 18 years of age;
-must have a minimum of previous three consecutive years’ referee experience; and
-must have 25 games as a referee and 15 games as an assistant referee at the Adult Amateur level, 11v11, two 45-minute halves (must be documented).

To complete the upgrade process to Regional Referee, Referees must pass 3 formal practical evaluations as a referee and one as an assistant referee.

Type of match:  Formal practical evaluations will only be performed on matches scheduled for two (2) full 45-minute halves, 11v11, and must be between two current affiliated USSF member teams. All matches must be played to completion in accordance with the rules of the competition.  Any evaluation resulting in a not acceptable performance rating will require an additional evaluation at the same level.   The minimum match requirements are:

1.    One match as a referee on a competitive Highest Youth Level U18/19 match. (Can substitute senior adult amateur D-2 level or above match)
2.    One match as a referee on a competitive senior adult amateur Division 2 (D2) level or above match.  
3.    One match as a referee on a top-level, senior amateur, Division 1 or Premier-level or above match.
4.    One match as an assistant referee (position AR1) on a top-level, senior amateur, Division 1 or Premier-level or above match.

Notes:  
1.    Each match evaluation must be performed by a different Referee Coach.
2.    Referees are encouraged to accomplish the formal practical evaluations at the higher levels of competition. 
3.   Referees seeking to upgrade to Regional Referee, before requesting an upgrade evaluation, must be 18 years of age, must have a minimum of three consecutive years’ experience, and must have the following minimum game experience:  25 games as a referee and 15 games as an assistant referee at the Adult Amateur level, 11v11, two 45-minute halves (must be documented). 
4.    Other US SOCCER Regional Referee Certification and License requirements can be found in the US SOCCER Learning Center (https://learning.ussoccer.com/referee/resources).
5.    The acceptable leagues for the top-level adult and youth assessments can be found on the SRP website.

Referee Coach Level:  Any currently licensed Referee Coach, or National Referee Coach is qualified for this level of evaluation. 

To complete the upgrade process to Regional Referee, Referees must meet the following additional requirements.

Physical Fitness Test:

     - Male – 40-meter sprints, 6.40 seconds; 75/25-meter interval run/walk, 17/20 seconds
     - Female – 40-meter sprints, 6.6 seconds; 75/25-meter interval run/walk, 17/24 seconds

Regional Referee Upgrade Course and Field Instruction (after game-count and developmental assessment requirement have been met)

Online Regional Referee Test

Additional annual requirements:

Safe Soccer Training/Healthy and Safe Playing Environment
SafeSport Training
Background Check/Risk Management
Annual Regional Referee recertification instruction

Regional Soccer Referee Recertification

Online Regional Referee Test
Safe Soccer Training/Healthy and Safe Playing Environment
SafeSport Training
Background Check/Risk Management
Annual Regional Referee recertification instruction  
Formal evaluations:

1.    One match as a referee on a competitive Youth U18/19 match. 
2.    One match as a referee on a top-level, senior amateur, Division 1 or Premier-level match or above.

Physical Fitness Test:

     - Male – 40-meter sprints, 6.40 seconds; 75/25-meter interval run/walk, 17/20 seconds
     - Female – 40-meter sprints, 6.6 seconds; 75/25-meter interval run/walk, 17/24 seconds

Emeritus Referee Recertification

The purpose of the emeritus license is to retire from the highest level referee has attained.  Emeritus certification may not be used to circumvent fitness test and assessment requirements.

The emeritus license allows a National or Regional Referee the option of retiring from those levels of refereeing while retaining that license and continuing to referee at a lower level.

The minimum age for emeritus referees is 45 years old.

Emeritus referees will complete the online annual training for recertification. 

Online Regional Referee Test
Safe Soccer Training/Healthy and Safe Playing Environment
SafeSport Training
Background Check/Risk Management
Annual Regional Referee recertification instruction
 

New Futsal Referee Certification

Online Futsal Referee Instruction
Online Futsal Referee Test
Safe Soccer Training/Healthy and Safe Playing Environment
SafeSport Training (18 and older)
Background Check/Risk Management (18 and older)
Field Instruction Session - 3 hours

Mentoring:  After initial certification, new referees should be mentored at/after games

Upgrade To Regional Futsal Referee

Requirement:  Each Futsal Referee:

Prior to attempting the upgrade process to upgrade to Regional Futsal Referee,

-must be 18 years of age;
-must have a minimum of five consecutive years’ experience as a Futsal referee;
-must have 30 games as a referee in a two-referee system at U16 or above (must be documented);
-must pass three formal practical evaluations

***To complete the upgrade process to Regional Futsal Referee, Futsal Referees must pass 3 formal practical evaluations as a referee in a two-referee system.

• One match as Referee 1 or Referee 2 on a competitive, highest youth level U18/19 boys match;
• One match as Referee 1 on a competitive adult amateur match or above;
• One match as Referee 1 on a senior amateur or premier level match or above

*Each match evaluation must be performed by a different Referee Coach (with advanced futsal knowledge)/Director of Futsal
*All matches must be played to completion
*Any evaluation resulting in a not acceptable performance rating will require an additional evaluation at the same level
*At least one match must be with a 3^rd referee and timekeeper

All new candidates for upgrade to Regional Futsal Referee must submit a comprehensive list of their games that count for upgrade to Regional Futsal Referee to the Director of Futsal prior to their upgrade approval.  This list should include at a minimum, the game date, league, division, teams, score and assignor’s name.

-Online Regional Futsal Referee Instruction
-Online Regional Futsal Referee Test
-Safe Soccer Training/Healthy and Safe Playing Environment
-SafeSport Training (18 and older)
-Background Check/Risk Management (18 and older)
-Physical fitness test

Regional Futsal Referee Recertification
 

Online Regional Futsal Referee Instruction
Online Regional Futsal Referee Test
Safe Soccer Training/Healthy and Safe Playing Environment
SafeSport Training (18 and older)
Background Check/Risk Management (18 and older)
15 games as a referee in two-referee system
2 practical evaluations
     One evaluation as Referee 1 or Referee 2 on a competitive, highest youth level U18/19 boys match
     One evaluation as Referee 1 on a competitive adult amateur match or above
Physical fitness test

Revised July 1, 2024

Refunds for referee registration will be $50.00 and may only be requested and paid out during the registration period for the year for which payment was submitted.  The registration period begins July 1 and ends June 30 for each certification year.  Payments are non-transferable and may not be applied to certification in subsequent years.

If you cannot attend a scheduled course and/or are unable to complete any required advance online training and would like to transfer to another course, you may do so without incurring any additional charge. You do that by selecting "transfer/cancel" next to the original course in your OMS profile, and selecting the class to which to which you wish to transfer.  The system will apply both the fees and any online work completed in the first course to the new course.

Note: You must cancel a registration before the instructor closes the course. This usually happens within a few days of the course ending.

If a clinic is cancelled due to low enrollment and no other clinics are available, a refund for the total fee can be provided, less the $15.00 fee for administration costs that occur automatically when you register for a class.  

All refunds must be requested before June 30 of each certification year.

To request a refund, please send an email to registrar@vadcsoccerref.com.

 

Updated July 13, 2021

FROM JUNE 2017 MEETING: CLICK ON THE TITLE TO OPEN A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

Officiating with Build Out Lines - Eric Highsmith

Interactive Polling - Richy Serota

 

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