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News Detail

9

Oct, 2020

Area Referees Needed

Prospective Soccer Referee,

If you are receiving this email you are actively listed as a coach (youth, high school or college) in the greater Richmond metropolitan area, as a team manager or club representative or just a friend or fan of soccer and your name got put on our mailing list.

We sent out a very similar request back in April of this year, however we have not been able to have any new referee classes since then, due to the pandemic.  The pandemic is still with us, but we are moving forward with virtual training and with protocols to get back on the fields.  CVSRA (Central Virginia Soccer Referees Association) is seeking to expand greatly our available referee data base. We are very short of referees at present and we need your help.

Please read and forward to as many parents, players (minimum age, 13 years old) and others as possible that have a passion for soccer.

Across the country many areas are experiencing a severe shortage of soccer officials.  In some parts of the country youth clubs are being limited to the number of teams that they may field (at recreation, cross-association and travel levels).  Some leagues have a cap on the number of teams allowed to participate.  And worst yet, some officiating associations have informed the clubs and leagues that they service, that they are not allowed to have youth tournaments, as they cannot cover the amount of games that are required for even a small tournament.

This Fall has been and will continue to be a great challenge for us to cover tournaments, as we have not been able to re-stock our membership with “new” referees due to the current world wide pandemic.

A study of the ages of our membership is showing that we need to do a massive recruiting venture in the next few years.  More than 70% of our membership is either over the age of 55 or under 17.  We are missing a very significant age group.  And it is an age grouping that for the most part, grew up playing soccer.  Remember, soccer is still less than 50 years old in this area.  We need referees that are 18 – 50 years of age!  We will always welcome referees that are younger than that or older also.

We as a Soccer Community need to find enthusiastic men and women, boys and girls, to officiate soccer games.  There are games at all levels.  For beginning referees, we have games starting at the U9 recreational levels, right up to the U19 cross-association games, including middle school games.  For the more experienced referees we have the travel and scholastic school leagues (private and public).

CVSRA has an in-depth mentoring program to help new referees get acclimated to the demands of officiating.  We also have a Referee Coach program that is used for referees moving into the higher-level travel and high school games.  And for the youth referee that finds themselves more interested in officiating than in playing during their high school years, we offer a very competitive college scholarship program.  You can earn a college scholarship as a referee!

Officiating is the only part-time job that you will ever have that you set your own hours and travel limits.  Once certified, you set up when and where you can officiate.  For some that may only be once a month, maybe only for early morning Saturday games.  Maybe you wish to only work tournament week-ends.  Whatever your availability, we have a place for you.  Maybe you are a teacher and wish to work middle school games in the late afternoon and still be home for dinner.  Maybe your week-ends are already busy, but you could work one or two night a week in one of the high school or adult leagues.  We have a place of you also.
For high school and college students, officiating pays a lot more than minimum wage and is a great way to earn more money while in school than traditional part-time jobs.  A typical tournament week-end can net you over $300 and if you have a car and are willing to work middle school and high school games, you can earn $200 – $300 a week during the scholastic season; and working less hours than bussing tables or any waitress or waiter job.

For parents of players, officiating is a great way to pay for your child’s soccer expenses.  You will be scheduled to work around your child’s games.  And if you and your son or daughter get certified together, you can work games together.

CVSRA’s training program is one of the best. We work with some of the best clubs in the country and thus must keep our ability up to match that of our players and coaches in the area.   We have had many of our referees move on to officiate the college and professional league games.  We currently have more than 20 members that are college certified and are still actively working the youth and scholastic games in the area.  If you are a former player and have a high desire to reach a high level of officiating, we would like to hear back from you.

If anyone is interested in officiating, please email me directly at:  [email protected] and register for the Introductory Zoom Session for New (Entry Level) Referees.  All questions about certifying, the different certifications available, SafeSport, How to Get Games, in-person field training modules, video training sessions and how to take your quizzes and tests (they are also on-line).  We will also cover the initial costs for starting out as an official (uniforms, equipment, fees) and how much you get paid to referee.

The dates for the Introductory Zoom Sessions are: Tuesday, October 27, Thursday, October 29 and Wednesday, November 4.  The session will start promptly at 6:30 p.m. and will at approximately 8:00 p.m.

Once registered, you will be sent the Zoom link for the date of your Zoom session.

Additionally, if you have any questions at all concerning officiating, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best,

Joe Sheridan
CVSRA Scholastic Assignor and Training Coordinator
[email protected]
(804) 240 6910
 

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Stafford Soccer

235 Garrisonville Rd.Suite 101 Stafford VA 22554 
Stafford, Virginia 22554

Email Us: [email protected]
Phone : 540-657-0734
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