Referee Development
Located at Soccer House in Chicago, Ill., the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Referee Department’s main function is to facilitate referee development and training. Seminars are held throughout the year to instruct and prepare referees of all grades through classroom lectures, field practicals and video review. With successful professional leagues like Major League Soccer (MLS), United Soccer Leagues (USL) and Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), it is imperative that the officials we provide reflect the same high level of play and professionalism that those leagues present.
U.S. Soccer has more than 140,000 registered referees, covering the game at all levels from youth through professional. Identification of future professional referees is one of our biggest priorities, and with the creation of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy in 2007 there is now a proper avenue for the training and mentoring of young referees. At Academy events throughout the year, U.S. Soccer staff attends and observes officials to give them feedback on their performance. Additionally, staff is also looking to identify particularly skilled referees to invite them to U.S. Soccer camps for advanced training.
National Referee Assessment Program
The United States Soccer Federation Assessment Program develops policies, programs and procedures to guide the evaluation of officials by trained and certified assessors. The objective of this evaluation is to assist officials at all levels of the game to improve and sharpen their referee skills.
Assessors are certified by the U. S. Soccer Federation under the direction of State Directors of Assessment who report administratively to the State Referee Administrator and who are responsible for carrying out the mission of the National Program.
There are four assessor grades: Associate, Referee Assessor, State Assessor and National Assessors. National Assessors are appointed by the invitation of the U.S. Soccer Federation and report directly to the National Director of Assessment and the Manager of Assessment and Training. They are responsible for assessing officials at the highest level and, when qualified as instructors, for conducting Associate and State Assessor courses.
Information on becoming an assessor can be found in the Referee Administrative Handbook or by contacting the SDA or Dave McKee, the National Director of Assessment.
National Referee Instruction and Development Program
The Instruction Program oversees the development and distribution of the training curriculum for U.S. Soccer referees, instructors and assignors. Currently, U.S. Soccer offers seven (7) referee courses, four (4) instructor courses and one (1) assignor course. In addition to the training courses, we develop supplemental material in various media, including books, DVDs, slides and video clips for use at all clinics from entry level through the professional league level. The Instruction Program is responsible for preparing the annual memorandum of Law changes and authoring position papers clarifying issues pertaining to the Law throughout the year.
