2024 REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN Have you recertified yet for 2024? All recertification courses are 100% online and can be found in the U.S. Soccer Learning Center under Courses -> Available Courses. Make sure you complete this before the start of the year so you can continue to officiate games at the start of the year without a lapse in your certification. If you have any questions about Referee recertification, please contact your DRA. | |
REFEREE OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONS The deadline is approaching! Do you know a referee that deserves some recognition? We are looking for a Young Male, Young Female, Male Referee, and Female Referee of the Year Nominations for Indiana Soccer Referee Association. For the young referee of the year nominations, please submit this completed form along with 3 letter of recommendations to communications@indianareferees.org by December 15th. For referee of the year nominations (over 18), please submit this completed form along with 3 letters of recommendations to communications@indianareferees.org. We look forward to reviewing your submissions!
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HEALTH INSURANCE Indiana Soccer Association is now partnering with Players Health to offer a variety of health insurance plans to players, volunteers, families, AND referees. Some of these plans include Affordable Care Act (ACA) Insurance, Short Term Medical Insurance, Accident Insurance, Limited Fixed Indemnity, Telemedicine, and Dental Insurance. Please check out this website for more details and to enroll.
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CALLING ALL FEMALE REFEREES We want to formally invite all female referees to be a part of the U.S. Soccer Women's Initiative. This program is totally free and 100% voluntary. You can pick and choose what events you would like to attend. The goal is to host a one hour Zoom education session once a month and have tournament opportunities at several ECNL events throughout the year. The Zoom sessions will be led by FIFA referees and National Referee Coaches. At the ECNL events, U.S. Soccer will be inviting several National Referee Coaches to three-day tournaments in order to provide you feedback during your games and lead classroom education sessions. Past guest speakers include World Cup Final Assistant Referee Kathryn Nesbitt and World Cup Referee Katja Koraleva. November's session will be led by Indiana's Academy Referee Coordinator - Abbey Okulaja. These are great opportunities for learning from some of the top female officials in the world as well as our outstanding National Referee Coaches. If this seems like something you would be interested in joining, please fill out the form so you can be included on all future communication. The more the merrier! | |
2023 IN REVIEW We started the year with our Annual Awards Gala recognizing 3 amazing referees, Caleb Sow, Dana Hackney, and Eric Burton. | |
May was filled with State Cup, Presidents Cup, and Challenge Cup games. This year's State Cup came with some changes, but we appreciate all your patience. We can't thank you all enough for all your help throughout the tournament and for providing such a great experience for all the players that were involved. We look forward to building on this experience for an even better State Cup experience next year. | |
The next month, we took over 50 referees to West Chester Township, Ohio and St. Louis, Missouri for Midwest Presidents Cup and Midwest Regional Championships. We represented Indiana well with 22 referees and mentors being selected for finals assignments. Although these events are primarily to work high level youth games and receive one-of-a-kind feedback from referee coaches and mentors, we also make sure to sprinkle in some fun activities for the entire group such as TopGolf, ax throwing, arcade games, go karts, aerial ropes course, and lots of food. | |
In July, we sent 11 officials to Presidents Cup Nationals and USYS National Championships to Wichita, Kansas and Orlando, Florida. | |
Other July highlights include, Grace Barrett being appointed to the USL-W final in Indianapolis (left) and Nabil Bensalah (right) being appointed to his first NWSL game in the middle. | |
October marked the one year mark for our State Referee Administrator (SRA) Tony Crush. | |
This is just the beginning. We are continuously making changes to better the referee community in Indiana. There is more to come. Thank you for being patient and joining us on this journey for a better future. | |
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GOAL SETTING FOR 2024 2023 is coming to an end. Time to reflect upon the past year and make a list of goals for the coming year. Try using the SMART goal setting method.
S: Specific - What needs to be accomplished? (i.e. ref first center, ref 100 games, ref State Cup, get invited to a regional event, pass fitness test, etc.)
M: Measurable - What criteria are you using to gauge success? (i.e. game count, number of intervals passed, etc.)
A: Attainable - Is this goal possible given your resources and time constraints? (i.e. ref 100 games in a week vs ref 100 games by end of year)
R: Relevant - Does this goal lead up to a bigger objective? (i.e. ref first center -> ref 100 games -> get invited to regionals -> become a regional referee, etc. )
T: Time-bound - What is the deadline? (i.e. end of year, a month, tomorrow, July, etc.)
Big or small, we would love to hear about your goals! Send them to us on social media @INsoccerRef or email us at communications@indianareferees.org.
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REFEREE PATHWAY The referee pathway has been updated. The biggest change is the entry level position is now called "Referee". | |
U.S. SOCCER LEARNING CENTER DIRECTORY Make sure your certification is up to date by checking the U.S. 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. | |
REGIONAL REFEREES We have clarified all upgrade and maintenance regional referee requirements on our website. 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.
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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.
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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! | |
OFFICIAL SPORTS INTERNATIONAL Need a new jersey or some new USSF apparel? NOW is the perfect time to get it during their annual holiday sale, featuring Indiana regional referee, Fernando Pina. Check out the Official Sports website. | |
JANUARY PREVIEW Come back next month to read about our new registration process for new referees and get a head start on State Cup and Regional applications! We would love to have you at one or both events. | |
http://www.indianareferees.org/ | | | | | |
