FAQs
Indoor Referee Issues 2012
Attention All Referees:
The winter indoor season is now underway and we have a number of issues to deal with.
1) Availability - If you provide an availability for any given day, make sure you do so for all the facilities where you're willing to work. That will increase your opportunities for receiving assignments.
2) When I assign you to a block of games, you must accept all of the games or you'll have to turn back the assignments. Only in very rare circumstances will I consider amending the schedule to accommodate you.
3) UNIFORMS - Referees distinguish themselves by the uniform they wear. You must wear a referee shirt with the badge I've provided you. Red, yellow, and blue cards are part of your uniform as well and you are expected to use them as needed. If you're cold, where an extra layer or two under your referee shirt. You can also wear black warm-ups if you'd prefer not to wear shorts. Black or mostly black shoes and referee socks are also part of the uniform. And you can also wear a black knit cap and/or black gloves if you find you're still chilly If you cannot wear a proper uniform and I find out, you will no longer receive assignments.
4) Punctuality - Games are to be started on time. It is your job to arrive ten to fifteen minutes before your shift begins, encourage the teams to get on the field, collect player cards, and collect the referee fee. Shortening the game is not an option. However, if it is game time and the teams are not responding to your whistle to get on the field, simply let them know that the clock will start in 30 seconds...and then start the clock in 30 seconds. This will motivate them to get going.
5) Once you have accepted your assignments, if changes are made afterwards the computer will send you an email telling you that changes have been made, if you choose to NOT read your e-mails then you will suffer the consequences.
Personalized report for Eric Beck
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 3:03:00 AM PST
Referee Action Items | |
0 | Uncompleted Game Reports |
1 | Unaccepted or Changed Assignments |
5 | Assignments during next 24 hours |
0 | Lost assignments in last 24 hours |
| |
FC College Showcase 2012
If the weather becomes bad i.e. Snow or Icy conditions, I will post all cancellations on the web site the day of the closures so once again LOOK AT THE WEB SITE on the day of your assigned games, to avoid driving all the way to your field and find it closed.
Game Reports on SportZing
Referees using SportZing
All referees, including assistant referees, who referee games for the Greater Portland Soccer District (GPSD) need to fill out your game reports on SportZing as in the past, this will ensure that your game records are complete – and that you get PAID for your games, as payroll is done using the reports submitted to SportZing.
Referees who do a center on a GPSD game must also go to their site at www.gpsdsoccer.com and fill out a report there, to do this you must register as a referee on the GPSD web site. When you are approved you will have access to their game reports form.
All questions or concerns about the GPSD web site need to go to Terry Christopher, he can be reached at www.gpsdcard.com Cel Phone #(503) 312-3505
About Payments and W-9 Forms
I did a game and didn’t receive a check, what happened?
I did a game and didn’t receive a check, what happened?
Most often it means you have not completed something, here are the most common problems that hold
up payment.
1. GAME REPORTS
You have not completed a game report, for some games you need to do TWO reports, one on the Sportzing site and one to the OASA Office (including the team rosters), you will not be paid if you
have not completed ALL reporting requirements. Also, you may be fined for failure to turn in your game report(s) within the 48 hours mandated by USSF – that fine may reduce or eliminate
the fee you earned doing the game.
2. What is a game roster? Do I need to collect them?
A game roster is a list of team’s players for each game. It should reflect the players attending that particular game, and should include:
• Each player’s name (make sure it matches the players OASA card)
• OASA card number
• OASA card expiration date
• Player’s shirt number
If you submit a game report without rosters, it is the same as not submitting a game report.
3. IRS FORM W-9
You have not filed a W-9 form with the League, or Tournament – you must fill out and provide to each paying entity a form W-9 with your Taxpayer Identity Number (for most referees this
is your Social Security Number). You can find Form W-9 here: .
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf
4. ADDRESS and Contact Information
The address on your Sportszing Dashboard is the one used for payroll, if it is not complete and correct your check may not reach you. Double check it, remember to change your address on
Sportzing if you move, also make sure your phone number is correct and current – this gives us an additional way to contact you in case of a problem, also I sometimes call people at the
last minute with assignments and if I don’t have a correct number for you, you miss out on the assignment.
I cannot update my availability on the web site?
SportZing Support
Kickin' It! @ SoccerPlex Now OPEN!!! Bar
Additionally we wanted to explain to the referees our expectations for our players and ask that the referees help us enforce our policy of no players on the field after they have been served at Kickin' It!. Any player who has been served will be given an OVER 21 wristband. Players are instructed to keep the wristband on and are not allowed on the field. As the referee if they see a player remove a wristband and try to play please take the Player ID Card and tell the player they are not allowed to play. This is imperative as our OLCC license depends on the enforcement of the rule and for the safety of our players.
For the safety of all SoccerPlex players and spectators Kickin’ It will
strictly enforce the following policy's:
Anyone wishing to purchase alcohol must be over 21 years of age &
provide proper identification. No ID = No Alcohol
Anyone who has purchased alcohol must wear an
OVER 21 wristband. No Wristband = No Alcohol
Anyone who has purchased alcohol MAY NOT play soccer.
If a player is caught playing after being served they will be
asked to leave the facility and playing privileges
will be suspended for a minimum of 1 week.
--
Jessica More
SoccerPlex
www.PortlandSoccerPlex.com
503-297-4145
How can I avoid wasting my time?
Why do I have to submit a W-9 form for Leagues or Tournaments?
The government has clamped down on reporting requirements for subcontractors of businesses and no-profit organizations. There are fines issued for non-compliance with the reporting requirements. As a consequence, the Leagues and Tournaments you referee for require you to submit an IRS form W-9 before they will pay you for your services.
For your convenience, I have posted a PDF file of an IRS form W-9 on the website.
It is your responsibility to make sure each league has a current IRS form W-9 for you.
How do I deal with angry players?
One of the most difficult things for beginning referees (and for any referee, for that matter) is learning how to handle criticism and angry players, and just how much of it to “take.”
There are always going to be players who disagree with a call you make, or don’t make. Sometimes, they’ll voice a quick opinion, or vent for a moment, and you should be able to handle an objection, even if it’s strenuously made, even if it might include a bit of profanity, as long as it’s brief. However, there are some players who will continue to yell/scream/object with you, and will continue to berate you. You should not let these players continue to harp at you. It’s your responsibility to yourself, the other players, and the playing environment of the game to stop these actions and objections from continuing.
In most cases, a simple, quick, and direct statement like (“That’s enough”; “I don’t want to hear any more from you”; “We’re done”, etc), or use body language that make it clear that you’re not inviting a conversation because at this point you’re beyond that, As soon as you’re done, try to move physically away from the player and make it very clear that he/she is not to follow this should be sufficient to take care of the situation. Don’t make your statement a threat to the player; i.e. “If you don’t shut up, I’m going to card you”, because now you’re issuing a challenge. Most players are experienced enough (and sane enough human beings) that they’ll get the picture, and get back to playing.
That being said, there are some who still lack the maturity to restrain themselves, or else they’ll blow up immediately and go WAY over the line with regard to how they conduct themselves. Be proactive here, and issue those players an administrative blue card. When you do so, don’t confront the player, don’t say anything to them (such as “I warned you if....:”), and keep your composure so that you don’t appear to be vindictive. Blow your whistle, and calmly show the player the blue card from a reasonable distance, not in the player’s face. Be businesslike, but at the same time almost nonchalant, so that the air you silently and non-verbally reflect to the other players is that of “You know, I don’t want to do this, but he/she wouldn’t drop it, and left me no other choice.” Don’t let your face show anger toward the player, but that of resignation that someone was immature enough to cause the awarding of the blue card to happen.
Be sure to remind the carded player’s teammates that the administrative blue is a full two-minute penalty for the player in question, once a goal is scored the power play is over, but the player who was carded cannot return until the full two minutes has passed. Peer pressure can be a wonderful ally for you in this situation. You’ll be surprised how often the out-of-control player’s teammates can’t stand his or her behavior either, and will support your actions. They don’t want out-of-control people” spoiling their playing experience, either. One blue card should take care of the player who can’t control himself--but be prepared to take further action if needed, and most of all, keep your cool.
Bad Weather Conditions?
If the weather becomes bad i.e. Snow or Icy conditions, I will post all Facility cancellations on the web site the day of the closures so once again LOOK AT THE WEB SITE on the day of your assigned games, to avoid driving all the way to the Indoor place and find it closed, even better when the weather is bad call the facility two hours before your scheduled block and ask them.
Why can’t I get games when I request them?
In an attempt to help you to understand why you might or might not get as many games as you would like, I have provided you with the six criteria that I use to make these weekly decisions.
1) Ability–– Are you capable of handling a match at a given level? Your experience will quite often be a key factor here.
2) Availability–– I give priority for weekday shifts to those people who are available on weekends.
3) Reliability–– What is your track record? Are you always on time? Do you ever forget to show up? If I cannot count on you then don’t expect too many assignments.
4) Loyalty–– I understand that most referees work various leagues throughout the year, but if indoor is a low priority for you, then you will be a lower priority to me.
5) Acceptability- How both the players and facility management perceive your ability must be a consideration here. Do you have a good rapport with the players? Are you aware that each facility’s management, for any of a number of reasons, has asked me not to schedule certain referees? This makes it more difficult to give you games as a result.
6) Seniority- How long have you been refereeing Indoor, certain referees have been doing games in certain facilities for many years, experience goes a long way.
The bottom line is this –– there are many factors that go into assigning games each week. I suggest you think about why you might not be getting the number of assignments you might like before bothering me with your complaints. The answer probably lays somewhere in those six factors listed above.
Why do I need to manually submit game reports?
From time to time we are asked why can’t you accept referee reports online, or use copies of those submitted on assigning sites. Often, this is accompanied by: “like the OYSA” or some other soccer organization.
OASA requires the referee report (which can come from one of the assignment sites as long as it provides us the information we need) and ROSTERS for each team.
The reason we need the rosters and other soccer organizations do not, has to do with the way OASA registers players – most soccer organizations, including OYSA, link a player to a team, thus TOM SMITH is registered to, and can only play for TEAM A.
So, on any given day TEAM A consists of the (usually 18 or less) players register to that team, and TOM SMITH can only play for TEAM A. For legal and insurance purposes you can assume that if TOM SMITH played on that date he played for TEAM A.
For reasons we won’t go into here, OASA does not register players to teams, we have over 6,000 registered players and any one of them could (given age, gender and certain other criteria) play on any one of our over 400 teams on any given day. OASA also does not limit the number of players on a roster (although some leagues do).
The only way we can determine who played on a given team on a given day is to have the teams provide rosters to the referee and to have the referee provide those rosters along with the game report to OASA. We need them to come in together so we can match them up. It is very important that players who were present are identified.
We continue to explore ideas to allow online referee reports, but the stumbling block is the need for rosters. We are not interested in changing our player registration system, but if you have other ideas about how OASA could allow online referee reports (and get the information we need, including a list of who played in a game) please contact our office.