Assignors must be Certified!
As per the USSF: Beginning September 1, 2001, all referee scheduling and assignments, for USSF sanctioned games, must be made by a certified assignor, registered with the United States Soccer Federation. To become certified, the scheduler/assignor must take a one-day assignor course, and register with the USSF.
From the referee standpoint, you CAN NOT accept an assignment from a scheduler/assignor who is not certified and registered with the USSF. There are currently sanctions being proposed and considered, to be imposed upon referees who do accept these “un-official” assignments.
We, in the referee community, must do the ethical thing, and comply with this directive from the United States Soccer Federation.
You, as the referee, need to ask your assignor if he/she is certified and registered. If the assignor is not certified and registered, you CAN NOT accept any assignments.
**All of the above is subject to the jurisdiction of South Texas Soccer Referees Inc. The rules concerning assignors and assignments are found in the STSR Handbook, under Rule 1.1.7. (See Below - from the STSR Handbook) In an "emergency situation", clubs may use uncertified assignors temporarily. (See Rule 1.1.7.3)
It is the objective of STSR, consistent with USSF that all league and tournament matches (where applicable) sanctioned by the state association are officiated by three qualified referees and that all referees are provided with proper assignments that ensure their development, retention and opportunities for advancement
The Referee Assignor Program consists of four levels of position:
State Assignor Coordinator
State Games Assignor(s)
League Assignors
Tournament Assignors
Referee Assignors should be selected by the playing associations/leagues being served, with the advisement of the SRC. The appointment should be made for a period of at least one year and be based on experience as a referee and/or as an assignor, organization skills, and character. The assignor should be familiar with the process of becoming a registered referee
Only in an emergency may a non-certified or non-registered assignor be used for assignment of affiliated games. In such an emergency, the person doing the assigning has a period of one year from the start of assigning to attend an assigning class and become registered/certified.
A list of currently registered referees will be furnished to certified registered referee assignors by the SAC or SRA. Assignors should review the directory prior to making any assignments and prior to the start of the season.
The referee assignor may not sell or otherwise transmit any directory of registered referees received from the SAC or SRA to any outside third party.
A standardized rating system should be documented by the assignor with updated input from developmental and formal assessments, coaches' reports, mentors, evaluations, the referee, and other input available to the assignor.
Assignors and referees must recognize that officiating where familiarity or family relationships with coaches or players exist should be avoided. Assignors should limit the number of times a referee officiates for any one team or club.
Referees and assistant referees within a given experience/rating group should be rotated on a regular basis among all the assigned leagues and all the teams within a league. No referee should be assigned to any one league or club exclusively. When the assignor is an active referee, the assignor should be designated within a given experience/rating group and be part of the same rotation system of assignment.
Referee Assignors are encouraged to listen to complaints about officials. When the complaint concerns an official who has demonstrated bias, unfair officiating or incompetence, the assignor should direct that complaint be filed in writing to the local or State Referee Administrator. All such reports should be investigated.
In some instances, an assignor may wish to work with the SDA or regional director of assessments to obtain an objective assessment in response to complaints about a referee's performance.
Referee assignors should offer equal opportunity to all qualified referees and avoid discrimination against any individual or group regardless of age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin or disability.