USSF ANNOUNCES NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSESSMENT PROGRAM

The United States Soccer Federation will implement new requirements for upgrade and maintenance assessments, beginning in January 2010.

These new requirements are specifically directed toward the following referee grades:

• State Referee grade(s) 5 and 6
• National Referee Candidates
• National Referee (all grades)

The matrix is for the purpose of upgrades only, all other assessment requirements remain unchanged, at this time, and are listed in the Referee Administrative Handbook.  The Handbook will be updated, with the inclusion of the new requirements and redistributed, or made available via the US Soccer Web Page.

You can review the announcement and the Requirement matrix on this Web Page, under the Assessment pull down menu.

Questions regarding these new requirements can be directed to the Kansas SDA or SRC via email.

SRC Awards Program.

The Referee program in the State of Kansas functions only through the volunteer efforts of dedicated people, and we should recognize “outstanding” contributions. There have been a number of people who have contributed above and beyond and we want to honor those that represent “the best of the best”.

SRC Service Award: Have you ever noticed that soccer fans are vocal, and one of their favorite
activities is complaining about their Referee? Referees are made, not born. There are a number of people who participate in the tasks of making new Referees and making current Referees even more effective. The most visible and known people are the technical members of the State Referee Committee – the State Referee Administrator, the State Youth Referee Administrator, the State Directors of Instruction and the State Director of Assessment. However, the only way these appointed members of the State Referee Committee can accomplish their esponsibilities is with the assistance of volunteers who are committed beyond “the usual what is in it for me”.

The State Referee Committee Service Award recognizes contributions made by the recipient in service to other Referees in the areas of recruiting, retaining, educating, and assessing. These are contributions which will be realized for a long time after the recipient “retires”. These contributions will be perpetuated by the “next generation” of Referees. This Award is given to a Kansas Referee who has contributed this extra level of service to the development of the Kansas Referee.

2010 SRC Service Award Winner: Dr. Lucio Arteaga:

Lucio started his “passion for our game” in Spain in the 1st half of the 20th Century. Lucio has been a Referee, an Instructor and an Assessor (reaching the level of National). He served as a member of the State Referee Committee, and as an executive of the Amateur Association. The explosion of soccer in the Hispanic community presented Kansas with a challenge – how to educate a group of Spanish-speaking officials on the finer points of the Laws of the Game. Our challenge was Lucio’s opportunity. He became the point man for this program and when materials were not available in Spanish, he translated.

There should be no doubt that Lucio has a passion for the sport and the development of the Referee. For more years than most of us can remember, Lucio has been on the sidelines, watching young Referee’s and helping them move up to the State and National levels. When the National Federation made the decision to not renew Lucio’s National Assessor designation, he had options. He could appeal and try and get the Federation to reinstate his National Status. This he did with the vigor that only those who know Lucio could appreciate.

When the Federation refused the appeal, Lucio could have quit. However, when he was discussing his options with his wife she reminded him of his love and passion for the game, and Lucio came back as a State Assessor.

But that is only part of the Lucio story. When the State Director of Assessment conducted an assessor training session in Salina during the first weekend of State Cup, 2009 – Lucio was there sharing his experience and taking instruction on how to improve. You need to understand that this was not easy for several reasons:

Remember, Lucio had been a National level assessor for a number of years. Yet, he was willing to participate so that he could remain relevant to today’s young Referees.
Lucio has serious heart problems. In spite of this, he was on the sidelines for the entire day because of his passion and commitment to the Referees and our game of soccer.

Lucio’s contributions to our sport will be felt for many years because of the experience he has shared with Kansas Referees. Because of this, we are pleased to present the State Referee Committee Service Award to Dr. Lucio Arteaga, recognizing his service to the game of soccer, his passion, commitment and dedication to our Kansas Referees.

It’s never been easier to become a certified USSF referee in Kansas

Recently the Kansas State Referee Committee (SRC) approved a new instructional philosophy that will make it much easier to become a referee and much easier to learn the basics.
What was formerly a 2 day entry level class has now been divided into multiple courses. All new referees will enter the program as Grade 9 referees by attending a one-day, 9 hour course. This course has been modified to focus on the parts of the game that are most applicable to the new referee and the types of game situations that referee can reasonably expect to see in their first year. No longer will we spend hours covering topics that generally are not applicable to the youngest age groups that a new referee is expected to work.

A second “bridge” course has been developed that will upgrade the Grade 9 referee to a regular Grade 8 status. This course will be held starting with the winter courses in 2010 and will “bridge” the gap by presenting the additional information necessary for a grade 8 referee AFTER the new referee has experienced a season of games. It is hoped that this will give the referee an opportunity to understand the information much better by being somewhat experienced before the more advanced concepts of a standard badge are presented.

The SRC has developed the instructional presentation for this course by working with a group of senior referees who are also educators in their professional life away from soccer. The development team for these courses consisted of teachers with experience at all levels of the education process, from elementary through high school as well as college and professional education.

As part of this “hands on” philosophy, the course will include extensive field work as a part of the 9 hour class and each class will be limited in size.

These two courses will be refereed to as "Part A" and "Part B" of the requirements for a normal Grade 8 referee.

Important Information for New Referees

USSF has produced an excellent document that will help new referees with questions you may have. This document is in Adobe PDF format. Click on the image below to open.

Instructional Clinics

For upcoming certification clinic registration, click on the "Instruction" link above.

To register for a clinic you will need to create a username/password and be logged in to the site.

Creating a username is a 3 step process:

1. Enter your registration information, including e-mail address
2. Check your e-mail. A link will be sent to you to verify your e-mail address
3. Click on that link to create your password

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