Referee Mentors
NATIONAL REFEREE COACH
Annually, U.S. Soccer selects and certifies individuals as a grade 3 National Referee Coach. These referee coaches are utilized to mentor officials at all grade levels which includes instructing courses and providing formal assessments.
The selection process used for this grade is both quantitative and qualitative on an annual bassis. Once selected, the individual must meet a combination of administrative and technical requirements.
For more information, review the Referee Coach Certification Requirements Grade 3 document.
ASSESSMENTS
Assessments can be both formal and informal. Informal assessments, known as development and guidance assessments, are completed using a carbon copy form. These assessments offer general performance feedback and the triplicate form provides a record for the official, assessor and the State Director of Assessment.
Formal assessments are required for grade maintenance and upgrade. These assessments follow specific criteria and must be completed online by the assessor. All online assessments are completed in the U.S. Soccer GameOfficials Assessment System and can be accessed by the official, assessor, State Director of Assessment, State Referee Administrator and the U.S. Soccer Referee Department.
INSTRUCTION
Properly training officials of all levels is important to the success of the U.S. Soccer Federation Referee Program.
Courses and clinics are conducted in support of certification requirements. These training events are organized at the discretion of the State Referee Association and are meant to provide a more structured environment where targeted training content can be addressed and discussed in detail.
To this end, U.S. Soccer has developed a training curriculum that emphasizes a targeted approach to preparing officials for specific levels of competition and these standardized training materials should be used by the State Referee Association in the certification process.
Please click on the link below to download the training materials and resources provided by U.S. Soccer.