Becoming a Soccer Referee

To become a referee you need to be at least 14 years of age to referee in the State of Alabama. Exception: If turning 14 before February 1 of the following year, you may still register (after August 1 of the current year) for an entry level course and become certified, but you will not be able to referee until you turn 14 .

New Referee Training

Clinics are held throughout the year starting from August 1 of the current year and continuing until Feb 28 of the following year. The Initial Entry Course has two parts, training done online and the rest spent in an in-person field session in designated cities across the state.

Requirements:

Age limit Must be 14 to be assigned to games.
Enrollment Course Registration
Training 4-5.5 hours online and attendance at a 2 hour field session
Safety and Compliance SafeSport Trained, Safe Soccer Training and Background Check (18 yrs and older)
Laws of the Game Quiz On-line - Referee Quiz
Cost For 17 year olds and younger total $100 and $130 for 18 years and above. This fee includes $20 for the online Referee course, $80 In-Person Clinic fee, USSF Registration fee and Alabama registration fee and $30 Background Check fee (only for 18yrs and older)

There are 7 steps to follow. Click on each for more info.

Step 1 - Create a Profile at U.S. Soccer Referee Learning Center (LC)

You must first create a profile with US Soccer Referee Learning Center (LC).
  • You will need a unique account identifier, which is an email address. Parents may not use their lone email address to register multiple referees. Each referee needs their own email address. Parents may add a secondary email address to each account in order to receive any emails their child is receiving from either U.S. Soccer or the Alabama State Referee Committee.
  • A known issue while creating an account in the LC is a browser timeout. If this occurs for you, U.S. Soccer recommends to clear your browser history, cache, and cookies. Close your browser, and try again. Alternatively, try a different browser or device to create your account.
  • If you already have an existing profile in the LC, log in using the same email address and password. You can navigate and create a referee profile from there. Please note that U.S. Soccer will need to support the merging of your referee data to your new profile in this circumstance. Contact referee@ussoccer.org to initiate this process

Step 2 - Complete the US Soccer NCSI Background Check (mandatory for 18 years and older)

You must complete the NCSI Background check if you are 18 years old and older before you can register for a course. If you are 17 years old or younger, go to step 3.
  • Available inside the Learning Center under Available Courses-Supplemental Courses-Background Screening
  • Valid for 2 years
  • Mandatory for all referees 18 years of age or older
  • Cost of the background check is $30 once every 2 years
  • Background check must be completed to obtain certification.
  • Background check process may take up to 10 days.

Step 3 - Register for an In-Person Referee Entry Course

After creating an account and completing the background check(18 and over), the prospective referee must register for an in-person course in Alabama. The system will not let you register for a course unless you have completed the background check (18 and over)
  • Logon to US Soccer Referee Learning Center (LC).
  • Click Courses-Available Courses-Referee-First time Referees-Go to Course List
  • Use the "Host" drop down menu and select Alabama State Referee Committee or the Location drop down to select "Alabama" to find a course near you
  • You should see the courses listed.
  • Click on course details then Proceed to Registration
  • You will need to pay your registration fee at his time ($100). The cost includes the USSF registration fee, Alabama registration fees and the cost of the course (both online and in-person portions)
  • New courses in various locations are continually being added as local leagues and clubs request to host courses in their area
  • In-person entry level courses are typically held from July through February. Courses are not offered on or after March 1st. In order to allow sufficient time for completing online requirements, registration for all courses will close three days prior to the scheduled date of the course.

Step 4 - Download the Laws of the Game.

The Laws of the game are available here. The LOTG can also be found under "Resources" tab once you register for an in-persone course. They are also available as an app on both Android and IOS.

Step 5 - Complete All-Online Assignments and Attend the In-Person Course

All online assignments must be completed before attending the in-person course, including the yearly online Referee Course, Referee Certification Quiz, Introduction to Safe and Healthy Playing Environments, and Safesport Training (18 years of age and older). All of this is found under the “Assignments” tab after registering for the course. Referees will not be fully registered and certified until they have both attended the in-person course AND completed all online assignments through the Learning Center..
The in-person course is approximately two hours. The course includes both classroom and field session activities
Students should plan to attend the in-person course dressed appropriately for light, outdoor exercise. They should also bring the following with them: whistle, yellow/red cards, and a flag. This equipment can be purchased . This equipment can be purchased from Official Sports, the official supplier of U.S. Soccer referee uniforms and equipment. See Step 6 for more information.

Step 6 - Buy Gear from Official Sports

Every referee needs gear to officiate matches. You buy the gear from Official Sports, the official supplier of U.S. Soccer referee uniforms and equipment. The Alabama SRC recommends buying the short sleeve Yellow shirt first. You can buy a kit that includes the shorts, socks, flags and cards from either the Economy or Professional kits. We recommend buying the pro version since it more professional-looking and looks sharper. However it is $20 more but your very first match you will get that money back.

Remember, you will also need the other most-used color. So if you select the yellow jersey on the kit version, buy the green jersey as well. Vice-versa if you select the green jersey on the kit, buy the yellow jersey by itself.

For whistles, the popular brand is the Fox 40 whistle brand. We recommend buying the Fox 40 Whistle CMG or the Fox 40 Sonik Whistle. Remember, do not buy a pea whistle.

Your kit will provide you with your jersey (recommend either yellow and green), shorts, booklet, writing pad, socks, shorts, flags and patch holder. Bring your pen and your Fox 40 whistle and you will be good to go! The patch holder is used to stick on your USSF Referee License to attach/remove from your uniform as it is velcro.

Step 7 - Getting your Games via Assignr

So, you have your equipment, your badge and you are ready to receive games! Fantastic. You will receive an account to sign up to Assignr shortly after the Field Session.

Assignr is our assigning platform where you will receive games to officiate on behalf of the Alabama State Referee Committee.

You should download the mobile app (iOS or Android) to better see the schedule, You will also be able to accept or decline matches straight from your phone. Search on your platform's page or visit this page.

Please familiarize yourself with how to set your availability by visiting this page. Remember: you need to set your dates to AVAILABLE because the default is UNAVAILABLE.. Most of the games you will do will be on the weekends, however there might be games during the weekday. Figure out what works for you and work with your assignor.

To finalize this section, familiarize yourself with how to accept or decline a game by visiting this page. Remember, accept or decline as soon as you can. Games will auto-decline after 48 hours.

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