The referee requirements and protocols are tailored to the age of the kids playing.
8 and Under (8U) Division Refereeing
• Matches are worked by one referee only. There are no assistant referees on the sidelines.
• Each 8U team is required to provide a trained referee volunteer. Each 8U team referee is required to be the center referee for that team's home games, unless someone else signs up first.
• All 8U referee volunteers should be certified as an AYSO "Regional Referee". AYSO "8U official" certification is technically allowed instead of the "Regional Referee" certification, but is strongly discouraged as it doesn't cover many of the basics needed for our kids to enjoy the best game.
• Standings are not kept and scores are not recorded in the 8U division. In the AYSO spirit, the fun is in playing the game!
• Referees however must still collect game cards from each coach prior to the match, record "quarters" played and goals scored by each player. This information is key to helping us monitor if one team is having consistent blowouts and to help us form balanced teams in future seasons.
10 and Under (10U) and 12 and Under (12U) Division Refereeing
• Each 10U and 12U team is required to provide at least one trained referee volunteer to join the general referee pool for Hillsborough.
• Referees must be certified as an AYSO "Regional Referee" or above.
• A team's participation in the Hillsborough Cup playoff tournament (10U, 12U, and 14U) is dependent on meeting the minimum team referee game count requirement during the regular season. A team's regular season Win-Loss record is not a factor.
• 8 games is our team referee minimum game count minimum in order to qualify your child's team for the Hillsborough Cup. If games are rained out, this minimum may be reduced.
• The game count can be split among multiple referees for a single team.
• Participating as either a center Referee or Assistant Referee counts toward the total.
• Three officials are used at each match – a referee (center) and two assistant referees. Referee volunteers do not referee (center) their own children's matches but they can serve as assistant referees for those matches.
• The center referee is responsible for collecting the game cards from each coach prior to the match. The first assistant referee (AR1) records "quarters" played and goals scored by each player.
14 and Under (14U), 16 and Under (16U) and 18 and Under (18U) Division Refereeing
• There is no team referee requirement, but volunteers are always needed, and welcome.
• Three officials are used at each match – a referee (center) and two assistant referees. Referees volunteers do not referee (center) their own children's matches but they can serve as assistant referees for those matches.
• In these older divisions, players become much more skillful. Refereeing requires increased skill and higher levels of AYSO certification.
• Teams are responsible for monitoring the playing time of their own players since substitution in these divisions occurs throughout the match.