Referee Training & Certification Overview

Why should YOU become an AYSO Referee?

We need you! AYSO asks that that there be a certified referee present at every game played in the 7U and older divisions. Your child's team is missing a valuable component for learning and playing soccer if they don't have a referee. More importantly, it's rewarding and working with kids is great fun! And you have “the best seat in the house” being on the field.

You don't need prior experience or knowledge of soccer. Our training program will give you the tools you need to referee a Safe, Fair and Fun game. AYSO pays for all training, uniforms and equipment.

Youth Referees

Glenview AYSO welcomes youth referees at its games. Youth referees take all the same training that our adult referees take. Youth referees are often players of older siblings of younger players with an interest in soccer. They must be at least 10 years old and at least two years older than the players of the game they are refereeing to be the Center Referee and can be Assistant Referees at any age. Youth referees also need to have a responsible adult present at games they referee. Please contact the Referee Administrator for more information. 

Certifications Required for ALL Divisions

I. inLeague Volunteer Profile

• If not already in place, create your own User Account on inLeague (separate from the one your spouse may've created with their own name & email when registering your kids). inLeague is used to submit volunteer applications, track certifications and assign volunteers to team and matches.
• Under Volunteer Preferences (also presented as Parent/Volunteer Registration), check the Volunteer Prefs box(es) for Referee, Head Coach and/or Asst Coach.  
• As explained in the Managing Your Volunteer Profile & Application page, submit your volunteer application (formerly done at eayso.org.

II. Once a League manager assigns you to a role, complete a background check through Verified Volunteers

III. Complete the AYSO Safe Haven & CDC Concussion courses at AYSOU.ORG. (This is a one-time requirement. Year-to-year re-certification is not required.)

Certification Reporting

Unsure about which classes you've taken? Your home page on inLeague now lists all of your AYSO certs within the My Volunteer Certifications section. Be sure and click to synchronize any recently completed courses.

Referee Training

Referee Certification for 7U & 8U

The 8U Official Course prepares you to officiate a 7U or 8U match. It's available on-line through AYSOU.org. This provides the very basic information about refereeing and soccer. Once your player reaches the 9U/10U level the Regional Referee badge is required, so most volunteers elect to skip the 8U training path and simply obtain the Regional Referee certification. The Regional Referee training is sufficient to referee 9U/10U, 12U, and 14U games. 

Referee Certification for 9U to 12U (Regional Referee)

The Regional Referee training certifies volunteers for 9U through 12U matches. It covers the FIFA laws of soccer, AYSO's special approach for small-sided soccer and all of the information and tools for you to start refereeing with confidence. No previous soccer experience or referee training is required.
There are 2 options for training & certification:

1. The 1-day Regional Referee course includes both classroom and practical, on-the-field training. A certification test is given at the end of class.
2. The combination of the Regional Referee Online Course AND the on-the-field Regional Referee Online COMPANION Course. The online portion is self-study and takes 1.5 hours, while the Companion component is a 3 hour course that's conducted at a local indoor or outdoor facility.

Referee Certification for Intermediate & Advanced Referee

After gaining experience as a referee in the younger divisions, you are encouraged to continue on the referee development path. The Intermediate Referee class is an 8 hour classroom/field course that trains referees to do the more physically demanding and challenging matches at the 14U level.
The Advanced Referee class is a 1-2 day instructor-led course designed to be taken after Intermediate certification and match experience.

Navigating your way through AYSOU.ORG

It's not you, it's the site.
After submitting your volunteer application (see Volunteer Profile & Application), connect to AYSOU.ORG using your inLeague credentials.

Notes

• Ignore any instructions you may encounter about registering with Blue Sombrero. That system is not in use at Glenview.
• When first submitting your volunteer application, inLeague synchronized your password with AYSOU & AYSO's Single-Sign-On. As of June 2019, it only does this once a year. Changing your password on AYSOU will not get updated back to inLeague

AYSO U's Sections

• My Courses: organized for browsing specific online or instructor-led courses. Start here to find a course and see upcoming dates and locations where it will be offered
• Live Courses: listing instructor-led courses by their start date. (Most people find it organized with a particularly unhelpful structure.)
• Transcripts: reflecting the courses you’ve taken through AYSO U. You'll need to follow the Click here to view your Transcripts History link to display your training/certifications from previous years. (You can also view this list in the My Volunteer Certifications section on your home page in inLeague.)

Instructor-Led Courses

Regions throughout our area, the Midwest and the United States conduct training sessions. Feel free to attend any class that meets your schedule and drive-time.
Instructors schedule their own course directly into AYSO U, and there is no "Notify Me When..." feature, so you'll need to regularly review the site for the latest class schedules. We'll do our best to identify courses in the local area and list them here.