Charlotte County Youth Soccer

News Detail

14

Jun, 2023

What to be a ref?

To the Greater Richmond Metropolitan Soccer Community,

Do you have a passion for Soccer?

Do you like $ Money?

Are you interested in combining your passion for Soccer with earning Money?

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.

Officiating is also the only part-time job that you will ever have that you set your own hours and travel limits. For working professionals – it is the BEST source of extra income.

An adult working scholastic games 2-3 nights a week, plus youth tournaments and regular season week-end games can typically make between $7,000 and $12,000 a year.

For those that aspire to higher level games and advance to the college level (we currently have 22 former and currently certified college level referees), you can add in an additional $5,000 - $6,500 per year

A local college student or a local that can travel back home for tournaments can make between $3,000 - $4,500 a year.

A high school student – that is still playing (travel and high school) and only referees around their playing schedule typically makes between $2,000 and $3,500 a year.

Once certified, you set up (in your referee account) 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.

We at CVSRA (Central Virginia Soccer Referee Association) are starting up our recruitment push for the “New” Soccer Referee Recruitment cycle.

As the Spring seasons close and our thoughts turn to spending time with family and friends at the beach or the lake or maybe relaxing just a bit before the Fall 2023 soccer season is upon us – we (CVSRA Staff) must start planning ahead.

All sports are short of officials and we with CVSRA are no exception. We have made great strides in the past couple of years, but we still face a challenge for us to cover the youth games and tournaments. We must now we must re-stock our rosters with new referees. And referees of all ages.

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

In order to continue, we as a Soccer Community need to continuously 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).

If you have an interest in officiating – we have a place for you!

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 our youngest referees in the lower age groups (U-9 – U12), many of you may have seen a “Coach” out there working with the referees, just as the other “Coaches” work with the players.

We also have Referee Coaches that work with 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!

We have THREE (3) week-end tournaments in the Fall – a great way to earn money for the Christmas Holidays! And we start the Spring 2024 season with SIX (6) straight week-ends of tournaments in the Greater Richmond Metro area. There are many games to cover and games at all levels of play throughout the entire area.

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.

If anyone is interested in officiating - Our Summer Zoom Sessions are held in Jun and Jul, with the FTEs (Field Training Events) held in August.

If Summer is not the right time for you - Our Winter Zoom Sessions are held in Dec and Jan, with the FTEs (Field Training Events) held in February.

Pre-registration is required for our Introductory “NEW” Referee Zoom Sessions. And if more than one from a household (siblings, parent/child, or any other combination) is interested, then you may do so from the same screen and lap top.

For all youth (minors) that are planning on attending any of these sessions – we highly encourage a parent or legal guardian to also attend the Zoom.

YOU ONLY NEED TO ATTEND ONE. EVERY SESSION IS EXACTLY THE SAME. THE INTENTION OF EACH SESSION IS TO GET YOU STARTED.

Summer Sessions:

Jul 13, 2023 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcpfu6hpj0rHNA-PYmGbG4RKeeK9hzr1AXu

Jul 19, 2023 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkfumgpjkuE9EWJgcRm70BFredTbqnYLFm

Jul 25, 2023 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pde2qpzwpH9IgLT8gYrirh2xwnH6A4Q3d

After registering for any of the above Introductory “NEW” Referee Zoom Sessions, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Save this information – do not lose it.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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) will be reviewed. We will also go over the initial costs for starting out as an official (uniforms, equipment, fees) and how much you get paid to referee.

FYI – one week-end of games (tournament or regular season) will more than pay all your initial referee costs.

How long does it take to become certified? The initial Intro Zoom session is 90 minutes. Then the on-line course work takes approximately 6-8 hours to complete working at your own pace. Then the Field Training Events (FTE) are 4 hours on an actual soccer field

Dates and locations of the FTEs will be determined based on the number of registrations and demand – but we are tentatively looking at Aug 6, Aug 12, and Aug 19. And you only need to attend one.

You will need to commit to a total 10 – 12 hours to get certified, with only 4 hours being on the field. Everything else in at your pace, via online learning.

Summer is the PERFECT time to get this done.

The final step is to then officially join a referee association and attend an Orientation Session. CVSRA (Central Virginia Soccer Referees Association) has Orientation Sessions scheduled for Aug 17, Aug 23 and Sep 6. All Orientation sessions are via Zoom – and parents of “new” referees that are minors are highly encouraged to attend with their son or daughter.

The Zoom links to the Orientation Sessions will be sent out to all “new” referees as they approach the end of their on-line lessons.

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

Best,

Joe Sheridan
CVSRA Scholastic Assignor, Recruiting and Training Coordinator
(804) 240-6910 - cell

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