Any AYSO referees in here???

[Scott Zawadzki]

May sound like a dumb questions but I just followed a like to an AYSO web site and started to look around. The position of REFEREE is listed as a voluntary position. When they say voluntary, do they me like...unpaid?????? Much as I love soccer and reffing, I don't think I'd put myself through this if I wasn't paid. I'm wondering what the level of officiating is in this organization.

Scott

[monop_poly]

Originally posted by Scott Zawadzki
May sound like a dumb questions but I just followed a like to an AYSO web site and started to look around. The position of REFEREE is listed as a voluntary position. When they say voluntary, do they me like...unpaid?????? Much as I love soccer and reffing, I don't think I'd put myself through this if I wasn't paid. I'm wondering what the level of officiating is in this organization.

Scott

I used to ref AYSO (seven years) when my kids played. Now they travel.

All AYSO work is volunteer, meaning unpaid. So the CR is doing it for the love of the game. On the other hand, not a whole lot is expected and most parents and many coaches don't have a clue. Overall, the level of officiating is commensurate with the level of soccer ;) but you get a few good performers and other so-called officials that are absolutely abysmal - worse if you can find a word under abysmal.

[IASocFan]

Off topic, but related. Back when I paid $8 per season for my kid to play soccer (25 years ago), I had no problem reffing for free. It was for the good of soccer and helped get soccer of the ground in Central Iowa. Now that I pay over $100/season for fees and uniform, I don't have any problem accepting fees. Many of the referees I work with volunteered their time for the Iowa Games this summer. At $10 per participant, all sports used volunteer officials.

We don't have AYSO here.

[whipple]

While being a paid official often entails a higher expectation of performance, it is by no means a guarantee that you will get the performance you pay for. Conversely, while there may be a lower expectation of performance from a volunteer official, many of those volunteers are not only highly skilled and knowlegable, but are outstanding referees. For example, Brian Hall is/was an AYSO official.

Sherman

[HeadHunter]

While every general statement naturally has exceptions, my experiences with ayso refs has been universally bad. I coached one season in ayso and have run into their refs when coaching private school games. Restarts, positioning, and other non- ITOOR issue were routinely messed up. While I apreciate the volunteer ethos of ayso, I grew frustrated with their unwillingness to support any attempts at improvemen/professional development. Thus, why I am no longer involved with and if I can avoide it will never be involved with them again.

[Tame Lion]

I'm from southern California where there is a lot of AYSO. I have some referee friends who do both AYSO and paid. They say that there are many who do both and that the quality of officiating is roughly about the same. There are many good referees and many "not-so-skilled" referees in both organizations.

[david58]

Originally posted by HeadHunter
While every general statement naturally has exceptions, my experiences with ayso refs has been universally bad. I coached one season in ayso and have run into their refs when coaching private school games. Restarts, positioning, and other non- ITOOR issue were routinely messed up. While I apreciate the volunteer ethos of ayso, I grew frustrated with their unwillingness to support any attempts at improvemen/professional development. Thus, why I am no longer involved with and if I can avoide it will never be involved with them again.

I am tempted to ask what efforts you made to improve things in your region. I have been associated with two regions, and got my start both reffing and coaching in AYSO, and my kids got their start there. Each region will vary in expertise in various areas, but I have found the dedication and the desire to do it right in AYSO to be without compare (granted, sometimes it is the blind leading the blind, but we have ALL been there at some time). The region I reff in now has over a dozen VERY experienced USSF refs that give their time back to the game on AYSO Saturdays. I have found their desire to develop the volunteers to be very high, but they are admittedly slowed by parents who want to pay the fee and drop the kids off, and not volunteer. And "universally bad" is a pretty broad brush - I am of the opinion that AYSO is a terrific place to start out as a referee.

[LotharDSM]

Originally posted by HeadHunter
Thus, why I am no longer involved with and if I can avoide it will never be involved with them again.
And thus the AYSO referee community is probably grateful.

While I'm sure your coaching is fantabulous and non-erring there needs to be a place for refs to develop as well as players. Your post sounds know-it-all~ish and I have yet to actually meet a coach or player that actually DOES know it all. Sorry if I'm misinterpreting things, sometimes you can't tell what's going on behind everyone's typing.
As a player I get ticked off and can't understand referee stupidity until after the game is done and then I GET OVER IT. But unless you or whoever is complaining about the refs is actually willing to get into their shoes and do the job then STFU.
I've been a player for 26 yrs and a ref on and off for 16 yrs and I sure as hell don't know everything since the game and its rules continue to evolve.

As IASocFan says we don't have AYSO here, but while I was in my ref course this year there were 12-14 yr old kids joining the local Urbandale (I think?) club team and it was mandatory they took the course so they, AS PLAYERS, would know the rules. Too bad it wasn't mandatory for parents and the coaches since that is where the problems usually arise.

[KidRef]

I got my start in AYSO, as a volunteer ref when I was 14, and I can honestly say that some of the best instruction I have gotten to this day (and I am a grade 5 ussf referee and NISOA referee) was from some of the AYSO clinics. AYSO has a very good referee program, and it's upper level clinics which are usually held 1-2 times a year depending on your area are very strong. It is volunteer, however, so it is up to each individual to decide whether or not they want to advance up the ladder. Some are happy just going out with their knowledge base each saturday and helping out a little by volunteering for a game, and some are motivated to move up, same as ussf, nisoa, etc. So all in all, I would say that the level of refereeing can be about the same, some good refs, some ok, some not so good, just like un USSF.