PMB 323 | 15600 NE 8th St., Suite B1 | Bellevue, WA 98008
Last updated: June 7, 2008

REFEREE NEWS

There are two levels of referees who officiates games for EYSA clubs (Bellevue, Issaquah, Lake Hills, Mercer Island, Newport and Eastside FC).

Certified Referee

A certified referee has passed a USSF certification clinic (16+ hours of instruction, passed a written test and have received an USSF badge).  Certified referees must re-certify each year.  The re-certification requires 5 hours of instruction and passing the written test again.  Certified referees can referee recreational games, select games and premier games through EKCSRA (East King County Soccer Referee Association) or through EYSA.  They can also provide their team RIP (Ref-in-Pool) support.

Dates for certification clinics are set in February of each year.  EYSA sponsors up to 3 Entry-Level Clinics in the Spring and Summer.  Click here for more schedule information and to sign up.  Clinic fees to EYSA sponsored clinics will be refunded to all EYSA registered participants upon successful completion of the course.

Re-certification should be done in November or December of each year in order to be certified to referee the following year.  Click here for more schedule information and to sign up.   There is a 10% clinic fee increase for those who certify after January 1.  Finally, you must re-certify by June 1 in order to be a certified referee for that year.

You can find all certification and re-certification classes on the state referee web site - www.wasrc.org/clinics.

Club Referee

A club referee has taken a club clinic (3 hours of instruction given by a local EYSA club).  Club referees generally officiates U08-U10 recreational games for their club, but can also referee U11-U13 recreational games for their club.

Club Referee Clinics will be scheduled (usually in August) by the individual club coordinators for their own clubs, or in conjunction with each other.  Dates for classes will be provided when available.

Club referees can self-assign games through EYSA.  They are not eligible to provide their team RIP (Ref-in-Pool) support.

Referee Game Self-Assignments

The link for Referees to schedule games for EYSA Referee assignments is www.eysareferees.org.  All Premier and Select games, and most EYSA club games for ages U14 and older are found on the EKCSRA website: www.ekcsra.org.  If you cannot find the games you want, talk to your home club's referee coordinator.

Referee Coordinators

Your Club Referee Coordinators are:

 

 Issaquah

 Jeff   Nichols

 206-920-1746

 Jeff.Nichols@eeiengineers.com

 

 Lake Hills

 Mara Seeley 

 206-898-5596

 schoolbooksread@yahoo.com 

 

 Mercer Island

 Ken Robertson

 206-963-4662

 CommissionerKen@hotmail.com

 

 Newport

 Brent Sytsma 

 425-227-8835 

 coachbrent@comcast.net

Eastside FC

 Andrew Boyd

 425-443-8622 

 aboydcpa@hotmail.com

 

 Bellevue

 TBD

 

(Please contact Mercer Island or Eastside FC referee coordinator above)

         

Please call or contact them by e-mail.

Important Documents

EYSA Handbook 2008 – “Laws of the Game” specific to EYSA including MOD rules

FIFA Laws of the Game 2008 - Official rules of soccer

Mercy Rule 2007 - EYSA Mercy Rule

EYSA MOD Ref Card - Card holder sized reference card for MOD games

New Certified Referee Guide - Help getting started for certified referees

New Club Referee Guide - Help getting started for club referees

Required Forms

Risk Management Form (on-line) - All referees are required to submit this form to Washington State Youth Soccer Association (WSYSA)

Risk Management Form (.pdf)

EYSA Parental/School Permission Form - All referees under 18 years old are required to submit this form to a EYSA Referee Coordinator if they are going to referee for  EYSA (i.e. self-assign games through www.eysareferees.org).

EKCSRA Parental/School Permission Form – All referees under 18 years old are required to submit this form to EKCSRA if they are certified and are going to referee for EKCSRA (i.e. self-assign games through www.ekcsra.org).  This form can be found by logging on the EKCSRA website – www.ekcsra.org.  Then on the left side of the display choosing “Services”, then “Youth Referee” and finally “Authorization”.

Other Important Forms

EYSA Misconduct Report for MOD and U13 Games

WSYSA Misconduct Report for U14+ Games

Links

EYSA Referees - Site for self-assigning EYSA games

EKCSRA Referees - Site for self-assigning EKCSRA games

WA State Youth Soccer Association (WSYSA)

WA State Youth Soccer Association - (WSYSA Referee Website)

WA State Referee Committee (WASRC)

Educational Links

Offside Video - Excellent explanation of "offside"

LATEST RULE CHANGES

DISCIPLINARY RULE 605:  Effective September 1, 2007, new Rule 605 Disciplinary Rule will go into affect.  One of the major changes is the new provisions for players, coaches or team officials who have been sent-off (received a red card) now have mandatory game sit outs.  Any send-off or second caution issued in a match, to a player, coach or team official makes that person ineligible to participate in their next regularly scheduled match(s) as outlined under WSYSA Rule 605.  WSYSA Disciplinary Committees will no longer be holding “Soccer Court” on Thursday night.  Please see http://www.wsysa.com/tabid/220/Default.aspx for more details.

JEWELRY CONTROVERSIES:  EYSA and WSYSA enforce a no-jewelry policy for games and practices. Earrings cannot be worn. The posts in freshly pierced ears can be removed for the 60 to 90 minutes of a practice or a game.  Metal or hard plastic hair clips are dangerous and should not be worn during games.  Exposed facial piercing jewelry must be removed during games or practices.  Wristwatches are not allowed during games or practices.  Plastic bracelets (like the yellow LiveStrong bracelets) and woven friendship bracelets must be removed.  Necklaces and medallions should be left on the sidelines.  Medic-Alert bracelets should be given to a sidelines spectator or the coach.  That person must accept responsibility for delivering the bracelet to any aide-car or medical personnel in case of an emergency involving the player at the field.

Any disputes or objections can be appealed to the home soccer club or to EYSA.  However, on game day, the rules apply in the absence of an approved special arrangement.

CASTS or SPLINTS:  WSYSA changed policy and left the decision about any casts or splints to the referee's discretion, whether to allow injured players to play.  EYSA has voted to maintain strict safety-first rules; therefore no recreational player may play with a cast or splint.  Soft bandage-wraps with tape over any clips are permissible.  If a cloth wrist wrap has a metal strut in it, the player cannot wear it while playing.

THE HAND BALL:  Soccer rules about fouls for handling the ball require that the handling be deliberate.  Accidental contact is not a foul.  IF a hand-ball leads to great advantage for the player or a nearby teammate, most referees will call the foul.  The “deliberate” requirement means that hand-ball contact occurs without a foul call in many games.  This is OK.  

OFFSIDE POSITION versus OFFSIDE FOUL:   A player can be in an obvious offside position, but there is no foul unless that player gets involved in active play.  Thus, the foul occurs when the ball is passed forward to the offside player.  Yelling for an offside call before the player gets the pass is distracting to players and referees, and is incorrect.  Wait to see if the player gets an advantage in play by being offside.  That is the foul.  Also note that referees often let a forward pass go over the end line for a goal kick, and ignore an offside foul that was happening on the same pass.  If the ball somehow does not go out of bounds, then the referee will whistle for the offside foul.

SUBSTITUTION RULES Changed in 2004:  Previous rules were from WSYSA, and they adopted more liberal FIFA/USSF rules in 2004. Therefore:

1)     Substitution may be made during any stoppage of play, as long as the referee gives consent.

2)     The rule has been deleted where a player receiving a yellow card must be substituted.  Referees will be told to allow make eye contact with the player’s coach and give ample time for that coach to ask for a substitution.

3)     The referee still has final authority over allowing or not allowing substitutions in any given situation.

 

REFEREE CORNER

Hey, you know that OTHER person on a soccer field?  The one in an odd-colored shirt with a nasty whistle? He or she is the referee!  Referees are needed for all EYSA games - lots of games, so lots of need for referees!   EYSA has many dedicated youth and adult volunteers working on referee quantity and quality, but we always need your help.

More referees are needed — especially adults!!  Our youth volunteers can't do it all.  Help your club and yourself.  Earn extra money.

Club Referees — Every Club in EYSA (Bellevue, Issaquah, Lake Hills, Mercer Island and Newport) tries to use trained and certified referees for their games. For MOD and Small-Sided games, Clubs may train their own referees. Youth soccer players 13 years old and older and adults are encouraged to sign up to be Mod referees.  It is fun, will make you some money, and will help you be a better player by showing you the game as the referee sees it.  Each Club will be running their own Mod Referee training classes, usually just before the fall season starts.  Check your Club newsletter, or contact the Referee Coordinator for your club, to find out when and where this year's class will be.

Certified referee — To start, you take an Entry-Level Referee Clinic.  It’s recommended that you be 14 years old or older.  Dates and places will be listed on this site when available. You take a series of classes several evenings for a week, then pass an easy test and get certified as a "grade 8" referee.  EYSA will offer at up to 3 sets of clinics between April and August.  If you complete the “EYSA sponsored” clinic and referee 5 games for EYSA clubs, then EYSA covers the clinic cost for you.  See details on the Referee Clinics page on this Web site.

Ref-in-Pool (or Youth Pool) — East King County Soccer Referee Association (EKCSRA) provides referees for all Premier and Select games and U14+ Recreation games for all clubs in EYSA.  A referee must be certified to self-assign games through EKCSRA.  EKCSRA has enough referees to handle games being played - except in the fall, when the all the youth games overwhelm the Eastside's referee population.  To deal with the fall shortage, EKCSRA has created a "Youth Pool" - better know as “Ref-in-Pool” (or RIP).  Teams using EKCSRA referees must contribute a referee into the Pool. These referees agree to referee 10 games, often as an assistant referee.  Coaches are told by their club coordinators if their team must provide a Youth Pool referee.  There are some penalties for teams that do not contribute a Youth Pool referee, but overall the pool program is intended to attract youth and adults into the role of referee. 

Sideline Behavior — Everyone loves to argue a referee's close call. However, soccer has a tradition of respect and courtesy for its referees. Heckling is bad form in soccer!  EYSA trains many teenagers as referees, and heckling a youth referee is especially bad form.  Everyone in soccer must help.  Respect the referee!  If you don't like the referees, then we challenge you to train-up, get a whistle and try to make things better.  EYSA has two very helpful position papers about sidelines behavior towards referees and players. They are "Expectations of Coach Behavior" and "Thoughts for Parents".  These guidelines are enforced, and disrespectful coaches and parents have been banned from future competitions. 

Learning the Rules — Soccer is a fast and fun game.  The rules are very simple compared to other sports.  Parents can get a quick lesson from books and web sites.  New coaches must learn the rules - your Club should sponsor a rules briefing clinic before the fall season starts.