The Indiana Referee Report

New Registration Year July marks the beginning of the 2025 registration year for anyone interested in advancing or those maintaining a Regional Referee certification. This means any practical evaluation (assessment) or fitness tests completed July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024 will count towards the 2025 registration year. Start planning now. We encourage you to start fulfilling some of those requirements now so we don't have any last minute delays or complications. NEW this year, all assessment payments will be paid directly to Indiana Soccer Referee Association and ISRA will issue payment to the referee coach. All the regional referee requirements are listed toward the end of this newsletter and on our website.

Remembering Tim Vancleave The Indiana referee community is mourning the loss of Evansville referee Tim Vancleave. Tim was a dedicated soccer referee not only for USSF, but also for high school and college for several years. He was also known for instructing at numerous referee courses in Southern Indiana. Tim will be greatly missed. Please keep Tim's family in your thoughts and prayers.

Indiana in the NWSL One of Indiana's national referees, Nabil Bensalah, was appointed to his first NWSL game in the middle on July 21st, Racing Louisville vs Chicago Red Stars. Congrats Nabil on this amazing accomplishment and job well done!

Referee Pathway The referee pathway has been updated. The biggest change is the entry level position is now called "Referee".

New Referees We would love your help in recruiting new referees! ISRA has come up with a new, easy to follow 3 step registration process (shown below) for new referees. Please help us spread the word to anyone you know that might be interested. A more detailed description of the registration process can be found on our website.

USLW National Playoffs Indianapolis was lucky enough to host both the National Semifinal and the National Final for USLW over the last month. Congratulations to our 4 Indiana referees that officiated the National Semifinal, Dana Hackney, Brian Alvarez, Sandra Jerome, and Jarin Harrell. Special congratulations to Grace Barrett who officiated the USLW National Final! Well done everyone!

USL2 Conference Playoffs Fort Wayne hosted the first and second round of the USL2 playoffs last month. Indiana referees represented us well once again. Adam Saleh and George Perry IV were selected to referee the 1st round game of Chicago City SC vs Cleveland Force. The Conference Semifinal was officiated by Nabil Bensalah, Jarin Harrell, and Gustavo Hernandez Jr.! Awesome job by our 5 Indiana referees!

In conjunction with the USL2 Conference playoffs, Fort Wayne FC co-hosted our first ever Referee Appreciation Weekend. The weekend was filled with 3 different USL2 watch parties including free admission into the games, opportunities to meet the referee crew after Friday's matches, and a USWNT watch party following the USL2 games. We hope to continue offering opportunities like this in the future!

Tournament of Champions This tournament is similar to the other Midwest Regional events, but the teams are all adults. Indiana sent 9 referees to represent us in Fort Wayne for the event, Saleem Abufares, Mason Pottschmidt, Adrian Orciuch, Gustavo Hernandez Jr., Isaiah Eckroth, George Perry IV, Salvador Flores, Oscar Huante, and James Lowe. Once again, we were represented well throughout the tournament. Congratulations to George Perry IV and Mason Pottschmidt on your finals assignments!

USYS National Events Indiana's 10 referees represented us well at National Presidents Cup and US Youth Soccer National Championships last month! Job well done to all! Special congratulations for Adrian Orciuch, Brian Alvarez, Erin Patterson, and Dana Hackney for receiving finals assignments at Nationals.

Midwest Regional Events Have you seen the highlight videos from this summer's regional events? Check them out below. If this looks like something you might be interested in the future, be on the look out for more details in upcoming newsletters at the beginning of 2024.

Better Together: Women and Sport Leadership Virtual Summit The NFHS is excited to announce that registration is now open for their second annual women’s sport summit taking place August 6th - 8th. This is an outstanding professional development opportunity with an incredible line-up of speakers, including keynote addresses by Vera Jones (Motivational Speaker, Award-Winning Television and Radio Broadcaster), Dr. Suzanne Dodd (Adjunct Professor of Sports Psychology and volleyball official), Angel Henry (Author, Professional Speaker & Trainer), and Tonya Wallace (Leadership Coach & Speaker). If you are interested in attending this wonderful event please register here https://meetings.nfhs.org/website/55264/.

US Soccer Learning Center Directory Make sure your certification is up to date by checking the US Soccer Learning Center Directory here. All you have to do is put in your full name and state to check if your License, SafeSport (over 18 years old), and Introduction to Safe & Healthy Playing Environments are up to date. If you are missing one of these requirements, your license may be suspended. It can easily be reinstated by completing any missing requirements. If you have any questions, please contact your DRA.

August 19-20 - Fall Kickoff - Portage

Ismail Attallah

ismailattallah@juno.com

August 19-20 - The Premier Cup 2023 at Grand Park - Westfield

Nate Sinders & Dave Howard

nathansindersassigning@gmail.com

fshoward@sbcglobal.net

https://forms.gle/9X1n2GmtFU6MTkyAA

August 26 - Indiana Soccer League begins

August 26-27 - Puma Cup - Fort Wayne

Joe Silva

hoosierbarber39@gmail.com

August 26-27 - Habig Classic - Westfield & Noblesville

Nate Sinders

nathansindersassigning@gmail.com

https://forms.gle/SUsvSBoAtsoKqggt5

September 2-3 - Grand Park Cup - Westfield

Nate Sinders & Dave Howard

nathansindersassigning@gmail.com

fshoward@sbcglobal.net

https://forms.gle/D1W7Mo5PDGzN1i9W7

September 8-10 - Veterans Invitational Tournament (9 v 9) - Evansville

Matt Hirsch & Eric Cox

mhirschref@gmail.com

ecsoccerref@gmail.com

September 8-9 - Indy Pike Fest - Indianapolis

Keith Mitchell

keithr.mitchell@yahoo.com

September 9 - Northeast Select Soccer League (NESSL) begins

September 9 - East Central Indiana Youth Soccer League (ECIYSL) begins

September 9-10 - Magic Soccer Festival - Middlebury

Soccer By Design (SBD)

September 23-24 - FC Pride Cup - Lawrence

Tony Delois & Abdu Bensalah

tony.delois@indianareferees.org

abdu@indianareferees.org

September 29 - October 1 - Columbus Community Cup - Columbus

Brian LaVelle

brian.e.lavelle@gmail.com

Regional Referees We have clarified all upgrade and maintenance regional referee requirements on our website. More details will follow soon. In order to upgrade you need to meet these requirements:

In order to maintain your regional badge, you need to meet these requirements:

Note: Male referees are required to run the FIFA Women’s Category 1 test which consists of 6 repeated 40 meter sprints in 6.4 seconds or less (sprint test) and 40 repeated 75 meter runs in 17 seconds followed by a 25 meter walk in 20 seconds (interval test). Female referees are required to run the FIFA Women’s Category 3 test which consists of 6 repeated 40 meter sprints in 6.6 seconds or less (sprint test) and 40 repeated 75 meter runs in 17 seconds followed by a 25 meter walk in 24 seconds (interval test). The audio recordings for both interval tests can be downloaded here.

The practical evaluations (game assessments) for upgrade and maintenance must be completed by June 30th. If you have a game that you are looking to get evaluated on, please fill out this Google form so a coach can be assigned to your game. If you have any questions, please reach out to Jeff Swartzel.

Questions about becoming a regional referee? Check out our website first, and then contact State Director of Development, Ben Trevino ben.trevino@indianareferees.org.

Looking for Volunteers We are looking for volunteers that are willing to lend their expertise and dedication to the Indiana Soccer Referee Association. If you or someone you know is interested in becoming more involved in any capacity, please let us know by filling out this form, and we will get back to you soon.

Pictures Please share your referee pictures with us so we can feature you all in our upcoming newsletters, social media posts, and much more! Send your pictures on social media, to communications@indianareferees.org, or tag us in your post!

September Preview Come back next month to get all the latest news and updates throughout the state!

http://www.indianareferees.org/