The World Cup / End of Season Tournaments are coming!  Each 10u and older team is required to have at least 2 active team referees and to earn a minimum of 16 referee points to be eligible to compete in the elimination rounds.  MDSA is an all volunteer league that requires certified referees for every match.

Earning Referee points is one way the league encourages and sustains volunteer participation in this critical role.  There have been six different training opportunities between mid August and today for new volunteers to complete the required training and become a certified referee.

We are planning to publish the first Referee Point report later this week.  This is a complex process and requires a number of steps.  This message will summarize these steps and your role in them to ensure the first and subsequent reports are as accurate as possible and you can make plans with your teams to play in the elimination rounds!

Areas that need immediate attention:

  1. Ensure Team Volunteer Form Referee Names are Accurate (Coaches and Referees) – right now there are 5 teams with no referee listed and 12 teams with only 1 referee.  If they aren’t on the volunteer sheet, they don’t get matched to your team in the report.  Also, the name on this sheet needs to match EXACTLY the name in the referee’s inLeague profile.  Volunteer form is here for your reference.
  2. Allocate Points Earned in inLeague (Referees)  – Points are not credited to their teams until the referee allocates them.  The Referee menu in inLeague has an Allocation Referee Points function which should be self explanatory.  Make a habit of doing this by the end of the weekend so our weekly report is accurate for the following week.  A non-team referee can gift up to 4 points to your team from the same age group or higher.
  3. Update Ref Schedule for matches you worked that weekend (Referees) – if you CR’d or AR’d a  match because you had your gear with you at the field and were ready to help – great job!  Always be prepared to help by having your gear with you.  Make sure you get credit for that by adding yourself to the ref schedule by the end of that weekend before we lock it down.
  4. Email refadmin@mdsoccer.org to claim any Extra Points Earned (Referees) – we have a number of scenarios where the referee schedule doesn’t tell the whole story.  For each of these, email refadmin with the details (date, time, field, age division, teams, CR or AR) and we will give you credit.  Scenarios:
    1. Worked on a game in a previous weekend and forgot to add yourself to the schedule
    2. Worked on an away match at a non MDSA field during interleague play (14u / 19u)
    3. You are a brand new Regional Referee in 2022 doing your first Center Referee at your team’s age level (2 bonus pts)

We plan to send the report weekly starting this coming week, targeting Wednesdays.  Please review the report and ask any questions you have so there are no surprises as we get towards the end of the season.  If you feel like your team report is not accurate, please review the items above first, then email ref admin.  The report is generated once a week so any changes will be seen with the next report.

Bottom line—referee points will take care of themselves if your team referees are engaged and on the pitch each weekend, supporting your team and the kids and everyone does their part to take care of a few simple admin tasks.  Have fun out there and thank you for volunteering!

MDSA Referee Admin Team