August 2021

How to register to become a NEW referee.

1. Go to http://www.oksoccer.com/
2. Click on “Referees” on the upper right
3. Click on “Classes” on the left-hand side
4. Click on “New Referees Grassroots -2021 Entry Level Course”
5. Click on the  “U.S. Soccer Learning Center” blue box in the middle of the screen

**Must be 13 years old at time of registration**

Once you have clicked on the box it will now take you to the screen to register.

1. Click “Sign-up” on the upper right corner
2. Enter all requested information. (make sure under phone number there is the number 1 in front of the area code)
3. Once you have competed all requested information, you will need to make payment in order to proceed.

Once you have completed payment, you will need to complete the 4 hour grassroots course.  Once this is complete, you will need to come back and complete the Field course.

• The assignment of licensed referees to games are subject to their availability, conflicts, experience, age, license grade and other factors, and are assigned by the MTsc Referee Assignor. 
• MTsc U assigned licensed referees are utilized to referee U6 recreational through U19 competitive games, limited by the availability of licensed referees. 
• MTsc U licensed referees are paid based on the Licensed Referee Pay Schedule in effect at the time. 
• In the event of a missing line referee, an adult volunteer may act as referee to determine out-of-bound calls ONLY for a designated touch-line on any U11-U19 game as determined at the discretion of the licensed center referee. In a competitive match, both head coaches must consent and waive their rights to contest the game results relative to this approach beforehand. 
• In the event of a non-refereed U6-U8 game due to the lack of assignment of a licensed referee by MTsc U, the coaches of both teams are to act as pseudo referees for their defending half of the game field.

Referee Assignments. The following are important aspects of referee assignments that must be noted and are per sanctioning league and MTsc U standing rules and general practices:

CONSIDERATIONS RELATIVE TO ASSIGNMENTS 
Referee assignments by the Referee Assignor or official designee are based on availability, known conflicts of interest, Club evaluations, experience, age, quality of refereeing and license grade.

LIMITATIONS RELATIVE TO ASSIGNMENT ELIGIBILITY

09 referees are limited to refereeing:

• Up to U14 Recreational only games,
• Generally up to two (2) years less than the age of the referee, and
• On games where there exists no conflict of interest.

08 referees can referee:

• Any Recreational or Competitive game,
• Generally up to two (2) years less than the age of the referee, and
• On games where there exists no conflict of interest.

Communication of Availability for Assignments

It is the responsibility of the referee to contact the Referee Assignor weekly to communicate their availability for accepting assignments for the following week’s games and for what general conflicts of interest relative to refereeing may exist. It is NOT the responsibility of the Referee Assignor to call every week. Referees can let the referee assignor know their availability by sending an email to MTscRefs@gmail.com.

Referee Checklist

To be eligible to referee, referees must have their valid USSF issued patch, official referee full uniform on and their referee equipment available including:

• Red and yellow cards,
• Flags, and
• 2 time watches
• 2 pens

Need Referee Gear

Whether you need referee full uniforms or just jerseys, socks, shorts, flags, cards and more, click on www.officialsports.com for all your referee gear needs.

Assignment Swapping

Referees are not allowed to arrange to switch accepted scheduled assignments with another referee. All referee scheduling must be done through the Referee Assignor or official designee.

Scheduled Assignments

Referees are expected to be willing to accept assignments for either league and for any age (i.e. Competitive vs. Recreational and U6-U19). It will be the general practice to have assigned referees on ALL U6 - U19 Recreational games.

Assignment Schedule

NO referee is allowed to write on the assignment schedules posted in the referee shack. Only the Referee Assignor or official designee may.

(Effective Beginning Fall 2023 Season – to be adjusted by Board from time to time)
Center – Center Referee, AR - Assistant Referee (Lines)

Payments to Referees
Licensed referees are paid for each game they referee that is SCHEDULED by the MTsc U Referee Assignor as follows:

For MTSC U Recreational and Competitive Game Pay
Licensed referees who provide referee services for MTsc U Recreational games and MTsc U Competitive games at the MTsc U South and North Complexes shall be paid at the then current MTsc U Referee Rates. 

Payment Process for RECREATIONAL/FRIENDSHIP and SNL League Games
Referees must provide their completed Referee Pay Cards to the Referee Assignor or designee on game day, or to the MTsc U Office Manager located at the main MTsc U office in south Tulsa during weekday MTsc U Office hours following the game day, in order to be paid. MTsc U will prepare based on the receipt of those Referee Pay Cards fully completed, payment to be provided to each individual referee via ArbiterPay which will be initiated with Arbiter late on the Friday after services are provided.  See Prerequisites noted below.

Cash Payment Process for COMPETITIVE Games
Referees will be paid directly by the Competitive “Home” team and are highly encouraged to require such payment prior to the start of the match. If the “Home” team does not pay, the referees have no obligation to officiate the match. If the referees officiate the match prior to receiving payment and then the “Home” team does not pay for any reason, the risk of not receiving payment will be borne by the referees on such match. All payment obligations for the Competitive match is solely the “Home” Competitive team’s and not MTsc U’s. Completed Referee Pay Cards should still be provided to the Referee Assignor or designee on game day, or dropped off in the 24 hr drop box at the MTsc U office following the game day.

Prerequisites for Payment of Recreational/Friendship and SNL Referee Services

1. Referees will only be paid by MTsc U provided they submit their Referee Pay Cards fully filled out. This pay card will act as both a tool for feedback to MTsc U on coaches’ performance as well as an invoice for services rendered to be maintained and used by MTsc U.
2. Referees who provide referee services to MTsc United are required to create an account with Arbiter Sports if they do not already have one.  Arbiter Sports pays all referees who referee MTsc games, subject to MTsc's terms and conditions.  If a referee provides referee services for MTsc without having an Arbiter Sports account properly set up to receive payments, then the fees associated with such services will be forfeited if the account is not created prior to the payment date for those services (which is generally by the Wednesday following the date when those services were provided).  There is no exception to this.   It is the referee’s sole responsibility to have his/her Arbiter Sports account properly established in time to receive payment.

Arbiter First Time User Instructions (click below)

https://arbitersports.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205393748-First-Time-User-Instructions-For-Officials

Arbiter Update Your Profile (click below)

https://arbitersports.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205288957-Updating-Your-Profile

Arbiter Set Up Your Blocks (click below)

https://arbitersports.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201853138-Blocking-Dates-and-Times

Sign Up for an Arbiter Pay Account (click below)

https://arbitersports.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205148707-How-do-I-sign-up-for-an-ArbiterPay-account

Arbiter Link for Officials (click below)

https://arbitersports.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/200109883-Officials

REFEREE COST REIMBURSEMENT & MERIT BONUS PAYMENT
Payment for cost reimbursement and Merit Bonuses for those referees eligible pursuant to the Continual Education Program will be done at the end of the Referee meeting scheduled after the close of the Recreational soccer season. Any cost reimbursement payments or awarded Merit Bonuses not picked up through (1) preferably attending the final season Referee meeting or (2) within MTsc U main office hours during the following week, shall be forfeited.

PREREQUISITE FOR ON-CALL REFEREE PAY
MTsc U from time to time may elect to implement on any recreational Saturday game day an On-Call Referee designee. Such On-Call Referee shall be eligible for payment at a rate of $5.00/hr for each and every hour they are not refereeing a game (of which game pay takes precedent) provided the following conditions are met by the On-Call Referee:

• They are an 08 license grade or higher (i.e. 07 through 03)
• They remain on-site at the fields available to referee for the entire scheduled period (typical starting at 15 minutes prior to the first scheduled game, typically @ 7:45am until the start of the last scheduled game)
• They accept any game requiring a referee due to whatever circumstances existed that led to an unfilled assignment.

If any of the conditions above are not met, the on-call pay will be forfeited by the On-Call Referee.

Purpose of the MTsc U Referee Continual Education Program
The Referee Continual Education Program is divided into four components and consists of several goals. The goals of the Program include:

• Continuous education, evaluation, feedback, and development of the referees to improve refereeing quality for MTsc U
• Increase player development through quality referee direction
• Enhance coach education through quality referee direction
• Grow and maintain a sizeable MTsc U licensed referee pool
• Provision of referees for all games including U7 recreational through U19 competitive
• Build a more educated spectator base relative to the rules of the game
• Further ensure a positive and fun learning environment at MTsc U through the application of consistent rules

Because of the importance of these goals, the MTsc U Board kicked this program off in May ’03 and continues to dedicate a significant focus on and investment in the improvement of referee education, thereby increasing the quality of the games, player development, coach education, and the sustenance of developing and maintaining a sizeable high quality referee pool. This focus will translate in to benefits to everyone attending game days at the MTsc U facilities. This is another example that MTsc United is “Where Kids Come First!”.

The MTsc U Referee Continual Education Program currently consists of four major components. Please see the Calendar of Events at www.MetroTulsaSoccer.com for schedule information.

Licensing Clinics.

Getting Started as a New Referee

How to Become a Soccer Referee in Oklahoma

Every year the demand for soccer referees grows. While it's great to bolster our numbers with more youth referees, as more and more kids play deeper into their high school and college years, and then go on to play amateur soccer, the need for adult referees is greater than ever.

The minimum age to become a referee is 13 years. This is set by the United States Soccer Federation and cannot be waived or modified by the State Referee Committee or any club or league. The US Soccer learning center will not allow anyone under the age of 13 to create a referee profile.

How to register to become a NEW referee.

1. Go to http://www.oksoccer.com/
2. Click on “Referees” on the upper right
3. Click on “Classes” on the left-hand side
4. Click on “New Referees Grassroots -2021 Entry Level Course”
5. Click on the  “U.S. Soccer Learning Center” blue box in the middle of the screen

**Must be 13 years old at time of registration**

Once you have clicked on the box it will now take you to the screen to register.

1. Click “Sign-up” on the upper right corner
2. Enter all requested information. (make sure under phone number there is the number 1 in front of the area code)
3. Once you have competed all requested information, you will need to make payment in order to proceed.

Once you have completed payment, you will need to complete the 4 hour grassroots course.  Once this is complete, you will need to come back and complete the Field course.

NOTE : Payment to referees will be done during the Referee “End-of-Season” meeting following the last Saturday game day of the recreational soccer season or such other announced date.

• Announcements will be made by email and/or text to all referees providing services to MTsc U throughout the season as to the dates of Referee Orientations, Referee Roundtable discussions and the End of the Season meetings. 
• Any payments not picked up through (1) preferably attending the end-of-season Referee meeting or (2) within MTsc U office hours during the week following such meeting, shall be forfeited. In the event the end-of-the-season Referee meeting is not held, checks will be mailed to qualifying referees

Pre-Season Referee Orientation. In support of each season, a Referee Orientation will be held prior to the season to review Club procedures, approach to game assignments, check-in reminders, Law changes and club rules, etc. with all MTsc U referees. All referees are highly encouraged to attend.

Referee Roundtable Discussions. It is MTsc U’s intention to hold Referee Roundtable Discussions to be scheduled as many as two times per season. The purpose of the roundtable discussion is to allow referees to present game day challenges experienced, ask questions and raise concerns to a broader group to allow for best practice sharing, advice and instruction from roundtable participants, MTsc U’s Referee Assignor and the MTsc U Director of Referee Education in addition to updates and reminders relative to game day practices. Additionally, concerns and issues provided by coaches via email will be reviewed and discussed with Club referees in order to address issues that coaches have faced during game days. These roundtable discussions will be scheduled approximately on the fourth game day and a week or two after the last game day of each recreational soccer season (subject to availability of MTsc U volunteers). Participation at these roundtable discussions is limited to referees, MTsc U Board members, MTsc U Directors and MTsc U Officials.