Referee Instructions

Each year the Washington State Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (WAISOA) assigns officials to more than 550 soccer matches which take place between the last week of August and mid November. The board of directors has instituted procedures to be followed during the course of the year to make sure the program runs smoothly, our matches get completely covered, and the correct officials get paid the correct amount. As part of this process, the board of directors has appointed Area Assignors whose responsibility it is to deal with changes that occur during the season. The following information is provided to the Area Assignors and officials to ensure that each of the scheduled games during the season receives three officials as required by the various contracts that our association has with the numerous schools within the WAISOA service area.

Schedules are received in the spring of each year from the various colleges and universities within the WAISOA service area and the board of directors then makes the preliminary match assignments. During the preliminary assignment process, the WAISOA board of directors, as much as possible, utilizes the availability sheets filled out by the officials, typically in January or February of each year, considers the relative ratings of the officials, the difficulty of the matches, and equity in the number of games assigned when making the assignments. One primary consideration is the membership status (NISOA/WAISOA members have preference in all assignments). If all proceeds well, the preliminary match assignments are mailed to the officials in June.

After the officials receive their preliminary assignments, they are required to confirm the receipt of those assignments as well as to indicate those matches which they are unable to accept. Upon the receipt and review of games which are not accepted, the WAISOA board makes the final assignments. The final assignments and schedules are then mailed to the Area Assignors, the officials, and to the schools in the WAISOA service area around the first of August of each year.

In order to ensure that all three officials arrive at the match as scheduled or their replacements, if changes are made, the board of directors of the WAISOA has implemented procedures and policies to make sure, as much as possible, that there is full coverage at every match.

The Area Assignors are expected to contact the schools within their assigned area each week to ensure that no match information has changed. Particularly, the Area Assignors are to make sure that the match data is unchanged from the schedule which was provided to the Area Assignors at the beginning of August and which is posted on the WAISOA web. Schools often change venues or times of games, particularly at the beginning of the season. Having the Area Assignor contact the school should ensure that any changes that are made are discovered by the Area Assignor.

If there is any change to the match information or to the officiating crew, it is the responsibility of the Area Assignor to contact the referee assigned to that match at least 72 hours before the match to provide the referee with any information different from what the referees might of had at the time of the initial assignment. At the same time, if the referee has not heard from the Area Assignor, the referee should call the area assignor no later than 72 hours before the scheduled match to make sure all the information received at the time of the initial assignment is correct. At that time any changes that have been made should become known to the referee.

In turn, the referee is expected to contact the assistant referees at least 72 hours before the match to confirm that the assistant referees are still scheduled to do the match, know the correct match information, and to coordinate any travel or other arrangements that need to be made. Again, this should take place no later than within three days before the scheduled match. If an assistant referee does not hear from the assigned referees at least 48 hours before the match, they should contact the referee to ensure that there have been no changes to the match data and to ensure that all other arrangements are then made. If an official finds that one of the other officials or themselves cannot complete an assignment they must contact the local area assignor as soon as possible with notification so a replacement can be found.

By following these procedures, it is expected that each game will have a full crew of officials officiating the match. Compliance with these procedures has been problematic historically. As a result, approximately 8% of the matches have not had the three officials present that our contracts with the schools within the WAISOA service area requires. Accordingly, the board of directors has implemented procedures to ensure that there is a high order of compliance. Any official who does not show up for a scheduled assignment, regardless of the reason, will be assessed 150% of the match fee as a penalty for non-appearance at the match.

Any referee who does not follow the foregoing procedures and who does not have three officials for any match will be assessed the match fee for the missing official. It is expected in following this process, no matches will be missed and at each match we will have a full crew of officials.

After the match is completed, it is the responsibility of the officials to log onto the WAISOA web page and fill out the appropriate match reporting information. If you do not report in, you will not be paid for the match. ALL match officials must file a report. By doing this, the treasurer will have the complete data of all officials who actually worked the match so that the schools can be properly billed and the correct officials paid the appropriate fees.

WAISOA now has a web site on the Internet where all this information can be obtained. The address is www.waisoa.org.