CIF Code of Conduct for Referees - 11/15/2012

• Effective November 15, 2012 CIF has issued guidance on their expectations for conduct by Officials.
• GGSRA strongly encourages all referees to adhere to this guidline for all matches.
• To access the guideline document: pdf

Required Concussion Certification - 02/03/2012

• Effective April 1, 2012, GGSRA requires all officials to obtain certification for recognizing Concussion in sports, and its impact on youth player.
• We strongly suggest all coaches to do the same.
• CDC, Center for Disease Control, and NFHS, the National Federation of State High School Associations have teamed up to provide this FREE online course to all coaches, officials, parents and students.
• To access the NFHS course go to: http://www.nfhslearn.com/Certification.aspx
• CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/sports/

Assigning

• We are now using Match Officials Inc to assign all matches. To use the system you will need to set up your profile and post your availability.
  Please review Profile Update & Match Report
• Learn how to set your availability in Match Officials
  Please review Match Officials Availability/Blocking Time
• Please read the 2021-2022 rule book you received at the meeting and learn the new rules.
• If you have a question, call me. I will return all phone calls within 24 hours, if not much sooner. However, I work much better with email. So, please make every effort to communicate with me via email so that I can respond more thoughtfully and effectively.
• I will plan on assigning most matches 2-3 weeks in advance, in order to allow you to plan it into your schedule. However, that does not mean you have 3 weeks to make a decision.
• You'll have 4 days to make a decision to either accept or decline the match. Clearly, if I allow you to wait until the last minute I won't leave myself enough time to find a replacement, nor would that be fair to ask other referees to cover for you.
• After 4 days, the system will remove you due to non-compliance. If this happens due to on oversight, call me or email me ASAP. I may be able to reassign it given the circumstance. If you are removed from a game by the system due to non-compliance, and this is a pattern with you, you will not be assigned additional matches. I am trying to be fair and not difficult. I don't want to have to reassign a match several times and have referees either decline it or fail respond.
• If you are assigned to a match that is more than you can handle; or if you would prefer to take it easy, for any reason, please let me know. I would prefer that everyone be comfortable with their assignments.
• If you feel you are not getting the matches you deserve, email me with your requests and tell me what I am missing. Either Albert Montalvo or I will come to observe your work and will be happy to make adjustments. However, please understand the there is a seniority list based on each referees experience. Also, the number one complaint/concern from the coaches and ADs from last year was about referees' inability to run and keep up with the players.

Pregame

• Gameofficals.net will automatically send you several game reminders via email and/or text messages, based on your choice of communication. So, please update your personal information through gameofficials.net.
• Game reminders include the name and contact information for the whole referee crew. You can push a button and have each game downloaded to you Outlook automatically. You can then sync it to your smartphone and have everything at the palm of your hand. Call me if you need help with this.
• You are expected to arrive at the field 30 minutes before your match.Please call your crew if you are running late. This information should be shared with the coaches if the arrival time is within 15 minutes of the start of the match.
• Please meet with the coaches as a team and introduce yourself and present a professional approach, collect rosters, validate that the roster is legible and make sure each player (including the keeper) has a jersey with printed player's number. Ask the home team for soccer balls and make sure they are properly inflated. Make sure the coach of the home team knows that you are not a ball boy. They should assign one or more individual to fetch the stray balls and place them behind each goalpost. You have enough to deal with and don't need to be distracted with where each ball is.
• If the net needs repair or corner flag is missing, ask the coach of the home team to make corrections. Tell him or her "coach, we'll start as soon as you correct the XYZ". However, you can't deal with issues if you arrive late!!!
• During the coin-toss, please don't give the kids a lecture. We don't want them to think you arrived with a chip on your shoulder. A short encouragement of having fun and playing fair is all you need. Please do not tell them which fouls you would call and which ones you won't.
• Make every effort to start on time, especially when the start time is 3:15 or 3:30PM.

During the match

• Make every effort to keep players in the game. However, if you feel someone is asking for it, don't waste time. Don't let them think you are weak. Deal with your problem child before he or she spoils the whole team.
• Your authority begins approximately 15-20 minutes before the match and ends a couple of minutes after the match.
• As soon as the whistle is blown to end the game, get together at the center of the field and leave as a team. Do not go off and chase the balls.
• I don't encourage referees to hang around for a handshake, unless the players chase you!

After the Match

• A match report should be made within 18 hours by the Referee. This is most important if you have disqualified (Red Carded) a player.
• A DQ report must be made within 18 hours of the match. I will follow up with the referee, should there be a need for any clarification.
• A final draft of the DQ will be sent to the commissioner and the carded team's AD within 24 hours.
• If you DQ a coach, call me as soon as the match ends.
• Should there be an incident with a parent or crowd, call me as soon as the match ends.
• If there is an injury where the player had to leave the match and seek medical attention, please call me as soon as the match ends.

Checks and payments

• I will make every effort to issue checks to all referees, at least, two times this season. Hopefully, next year I'll have enough time to be more organized and proactive as I plan to increase the number of checks to no less than three!
• By December 1st, I will be purchasing insurance for all referees, unless you can prove that you already have insurance. This is to protect you. The cost for insurance, association and assigning fees will be deducted from your paychecks and clearly noted so that there are no ambiguities.