CHICAGO (Wednesday, July 2, 2003) - You will soon be receiving your pre printed referee registration form for 2004 either through the mail from U.S. Soccer or at your recertification clinics.  Even though some of you may not use this form until later this year or even the beginning of next year, if you receive this form in the mail it is important that you keep it and use it for your registration. Using the pre-printed form expedites the registration process.

Please read all of the directions that come with your form carefully before completing the form. The State Referee Administrator for your state has provided, or will provide you with specific instructions on how registration will be done in your state. U.S. Soccer has provided you with general instructions for filling out the form that will help to increase the speed and accuracy of the registration process.

Some of the important things to remember are:

• Don’t lose the form. Using the pre-printed form expedites registration.
• If you must use a blank form, please fill in your 16 digit ID number as that is how the computer program recognizes your registration. If you do not include that number, it has to be looked up before the registration can be processed, which will delay your registration. You can find your ID number on the referee registration card that you received in the mail following your registration for 2003. If you cannot find your card, you may e-mail one of the Referee Department staff members and request that it be sent to you. You will find a listing of the Referee Department staff and their email addresses at ussoccer.com, in the Referee section.
• If you are to take your form to a recertification clinic or receive your form at a recertification clinic, it may be appropriate to wait and complete your form at the clinic under the direction of the the SRA, SDI or another state administrator.
• Read all directions carefully before filling out the form.
• Use only a ballpoint pen with black ink – do not use a pencil, gel pen or any other lighter colored ink.
• Review the pre printed information in the top right hand corner carefully.
• Fill in only the information that has changed or needs to be corrected making sure that you are printing your changes in the correct boxes.
• Use capital block letters to print the changed or corrected information. Be sure to leave a space between words and between numbers and words. Example: 1234 FOX RUN TRAIL should be written like that with the appropriate spaces between the address number and the street name. That same address should not be written as 1234foxruntrail.
• If you would like to receive information from U.S. Soccer on referee issues, our National Teams and athletes, game schedules and ticket information, as well as other U.S. Soccer press releases, please fill in your email address, paying special attention that it is legible. The @ sign has been provided for you. It is ok to leave spaces between your email id name and the @ sign, as the computer will remove the extra spaces. You must, however, make sure you have the complete address written, including the domain name (for example: .com, .net, .edu, .org or .gov.).
• Please make sure that you check the "Yes" or "No" box in Step 5. Read all statements in the box and then sign and fill in the date. If you do not check one of the boxes, or if that section is not signed, the form will be returned. This step must be accurately and fully completed before the registration form can be processed.

Thank you for taking time to read these instructions. By following the directions outlined here and the directions you receive with your form, you can help U.S. Soccer and your State Referee Administrators make your 2004 registration go smoothly.

Should you have any questions regarding registration, please go to the "Referees" section at ussoccer.com. There you will find a directory so that you may contact your State Referee Administrators. You will also find the email addresses for the U.S. Soccer Referee Department staff and you should feel free to contact us if you have difficulty reaching your state administrators.

If you know of fellow referees who are not receiving e-mail from U.S. Soccer and they would like to, please have them contact someone from the Referee Department via the email addresses listed on the Referee section at ussoccer.com. They should ask that their email address be added to the referee database and to the referee email list. Also, please share these instructions with them for their 2004 registration.

Thank you for your assistance with the registration process and for the contribution you make to the sport of soccer as a referee.

• Download this document - "2004 Pre Printed Referee Registration Forms" - as a .pdf