STAR REferee Program

As the club is preparing for the coming 2023 season, there is a significant shortage of soccer referees in the region.  The club is working to recruit and train referees as quickly as possible but it is clear there will not be enough refs to cover all games on the recreational side of the club    

With that in mind, we've formed a two pronged contingency plan: 1) prioritization, and 2) the STAR volunteer program.    

First, the certified referees that we do have every week will be prioritized on  assignment based on the following hierarchy from first to last:  

1. Competitive Soccer 
2. 11v11 Super Rec - 3 ref crew (U15+) 
3. 11v11 Regular Rec - 3 ref crew (U13 & U14) 
4. 9v9 Rec - 3 ref crew (U11 & U12) 
5. 7v7 Rec - one person (U9 & U10) 
6. 4v4 - As with past years, reffed by a parent or coach 

With the above prioritization, many of the 7v7 games and some of the 9v9 games will not have a certified referee available.  To that end, RYSC is introducing the STAR program - "Specially Trained Alternate Referee".    

As part of the STAR program, we're asking that every team designate at least one (or more) parent(s) to be a volunteer referee when one is not available.  The home team will be responsible for providing this volunteer when needed.    

Our RYSC Referee Assignors, Carlos Ledesma & Thin Nguyen, will be scheduling and hosting a number of field training opportunities for these STAR volunteers in late August and early September.  We plan to provide some basic equipment such as a whistle.  We're hopeful some of these volunteers will go on to apply for full certification and become regular referees where they can also be paid for their work!  

We ask that everyone be sure and treat your referees, volunteers or otherwise, with respect.  It's a thankless job and every year a significant portion of the refs we recruit and train quit the job after being verbally abused by parents and coaches.  We all need to do our part to model good sportsmanship.  The club has a zero tolerance policy on referee abuse but it's really only the most severe incidents that are reported to club leadership.  With all of us working together we can nip this abuse in the bud before it starts.