New Pro Assigning Website

[falcon.7]

As those on the Pro List are aware, US Soccer has made GameOfficials.net its new assigning website for "pro" games. While personally I feel that the new site is more user-friendly, especially in regards to the interface, there are many things that have been left behind now that ussoccer-data.com is officially closed.

For instance, there is no way to look up past games and assigned referees. I used to go on about twice a month and check in on referees I've worked with to see what games they are doing. Also, the "Recommendations" section of the Pro Page was incredibly helpful when preparing for games. Combined with a very detailed self-evaluation feature, it made preparing for games and creating feedback for yourself and other referees very easy.

Also, does anyone know if or where the Federation will be posting periodic releases such as Weeks in Review, Conference Call Notes, or league referee manuals? There was a whole section on ussoccer-data dedicated to these things, and now there doesn't seem to be a way to go and look them up. I know the new website "The Ref Link" has past notes, but there is a lag time between new releases from Chicago and posting by the guy who runs the website.

If anyone knows the status of these features I, and I'm sure many others, would be very interested to know what is going on. I hope that in an effort to improve the assigning interface that US Soccer has not sacrificed the "little things" that added tremendously to the old Pro Page.

[bluedevils]

sorry for not getting into any of your questions, but I'd like to throw another question out there -- does anyone have any opinions/experience about the gameofficials.net site? Not US Soccer referee department's specific instance, but the site in general. Have folks used the site in the past with other assignors etc.

[Citiref]

As those on the Pro List are aware, US Soccer has made GameOfficials.net its new assigning website for "pro" games. While personally I feel that the new site is more user-friendly, especially in regards to the interface, there are many things that have been left behind now that ussoccer-data.com is officially closed.

For instance, there is no way to look up past games and assigned referees. I used to go on about twice a month and check in on referees I've worked with to see what games they are doing. Also, the "Recommendations" section of the Pro Page was incredibly helpful when preparing for games. Combined with a very detailed self-evaluation feature, it made preparing for games and creating feedback for yourself and other referees very easy.

Also, does anyone know if or where the Federation will be posting periodic releases such as Weeks in Review, Conference Call Notes, or league referee manuals? There was a whole section on ussoccer-data dedicated to these things, and now there doesn't seem to be a way to go and look them up. I know the new website "The Ref Link" has past notes, but there is a lag time between new releases from Chicago and posting by the guy who runs the website.

If anyone knows the status of these features I, and I'm sure many others, would be very interested to know what is going on. I hope that in an effort to improve the assigning interface that US Soccer has not sacrificed the "little things" that added tremendously to the old Pro Page.
I agree, and would also like to know. I can't even login to the new website.

sorry for not getting into any of your questions, but I'd like to throw another question out there -- does anyone have any opinions/experience about the gameofficials.net site? Not US Soccer referee department's specific instance, but the site in general. Have folks used the site in the past with other assignors etc.
I've never heard of it until now ...

[GAreferee]

Here in Georgia, gameofficials is used for all SRC sponsored tournaments (state cup, region 3 presidents cup, odp subregional, atlanta cup, etc). It is also used by many certified assignors for youth games and adult leagues. The whole database was created by a state referee that lives here in the same town as me. I would reccommend it to any assignor that is looking for an easier way to assign.

[ref2coach]

Gmeofficials.net is a pain in the posterior! :(

Our SDA adopted GO for all state assigned tournaments 2 years ago. If it is the only assigning system you have then it is an "acceptable" alternative. BUT If you already have High School and College "Arbiter" accounts it would have been much preferable to have the state also on "Arbiter" Day and Partial Day blocking seems to work faster on "Arbiter". From what I understand the pricing structure is why the state went with GO. "Arbiter" charges $7 per official entered into an assignors assignment group. GO charges nothing to add an official but charges so many cents per game assigned. So an assignor who has lots of referees who get very few games per referee GO ends up being cheaper in per year charges.

[andymoss]

Game Officials is, IMHO, as a referee and an assigner, not a patch on The Arbiter.

All my high-school, college and adult amateur accounts are on The Arbiter.

All calendars are in sync.

I can determine if I want to block a particular day or part thereof on one or many accounts, leaving me open to one or others.

Payroll using RefPay is seamless. 1099 information is simple and easy.

Tech Support is second to none.

There are mony other features that set The Arbiter far above Game Officials.

The more officials you have in your account, the less it is per referee. I currently have 50+ and it costs me $6 for every new official I add.

Using another system, be it Game Officials, Referee Assistant, GotRef, RefTrack, etc., just makes it harder for those officials who do work for assigners who use The Arbiter as they have to remember to update calendars in both systems for both blocks and game assigned.

I'm all about making things as simple as possible, stream-lining, etc., and one-stop shopping fits this exactly.

I'll reluctantly use Game Officials for State, Regional and pro games, but that's it.

I'm all for a free-market economy, but when it just doesn't make sense, why do it?

Unless there is a financial incentive involved?

Has anyone thought about doing a Six Sigma project on this?!

Just my 2c.

[whistleblowerusa]

As those on the Pro List are aware, US Soccer has made GameOfficials.net its new assigning website for "pro" games. While personally I feel that the new site is more user-friendly, especially in regards to the interface, there are many things that have been left behind now that ussoccer-data.com is officially closed.

For instance, there is no way to look up past games and assigned referees. I used to go on about twice a month and check in on referees I've worked with to see what games they are doing. Also, the "Recommendations" section of the Pro Page was incredibly helpful when preparing for games. Combined with a very detailed self-evaluation feature, it made preparing for games and creating feedback for yourself and other referees very easy.

Also, does anyone know if or where the Federation will be posting periodic releases such as Weeks in Review, Conference Call Notes, or league referee manuals? There was a whole section on ussoccer-data dedicated to these things, and now there doesn't seem to be a way to go and look them up. I know the new website "The Ref Link" has past notes, but there is a lag time between new releases from Chicago and posting by the guy who runs the website.

If anyone knows the status of these features I, and I'm sure many others, would be very interested to know what is going on. I hope that in an effort to improve the assigning interface that US Soccer has not sacrificed the "little things" that added tremendously to the old Pro Page.
The site is still incomplete and being added to as they get things done. I don't think it should have been released yet until all features were in place. No one can go back and see what games were worked or who worked them plus all current games are not being listed at all yet. Maybe it was a contractual thing but I think that it was rushed out there too soon.

[ref47]

"Additional referee information such as Week In Review, Memorandum and Topics of Interest is available at www.ussoccer.com."

[whistleblowerusa]

"Additional referee information such as Week In Review, Memorandum and Topics of Interest is available at www.ussoccer.com."
It's also linked through the new site. Some of the old stuff gets redirected to the new site but not all needed info is there or easy to find yet.

[intechpc]

I've not been able to find the Week In Review docs on USSoccer, has anyone located them yet?

[EDIT] Nevermind, I finally found them under Referee Program

[CalCard]

There is also www.refscheduler.net which is used my some clubs in CalNorth and Illinois. It's not as full featured but it does assigning well for clubs that need managed self assignment. It can also be run in 'availability' mode where assignments are made based on submitted availability.

It runs completely from the web and costs $100/yr.

[andymoss]

It can also be run in 'availability' mode where assignments are made based on submitted availability.

I can do that in The Arbiter.

I can rank each division, even down to individidual teams and I can rank each individual referee as both referee and AR.

Then I can let the system assign for me.

Or if I am manually assigning, only officials with the appropriate rank for that game with those teams will be available to me unless I override the filter.

Pretty handy.

[law5guy]

I get assignments just about any way possible.....

GameOfficials, The Arbiter, Florida State Referee's Assignment System, emails the night before, and my personal favorite... phone calls an hour before the game begging me to show up. lol

[squib]

Another great assigning software package is WebReferee.net. We've been using them for years and love it.

[soccerguyBC]

All things you list here are available...just have to look in the right places...

To view past games and assignments, click on the REPORTS button on the left. Click on ASSIGNMENTS-ALL OFFICIALS. Pretty straightforward from there.

The "recommendations about teams" section you seek is available, but only for games in which you are assigned a team that has feedback from other refs. In other words...unless you are reffing the Chicago Fire, you can't go see what the refs have left as feedback on them. Makes sense given the far more public nature of this new site than the old one. This feature was added back in sometime in mid July I believe.

Self evals are there and available using the new assessment format. You enter your self eval after each match by clicking AFTER MATCH and SELF EVAL. I think this has to be activated by the assignor, so its a feature that may not display on all games.

Week-In-Reviews are easier to get than ever. Go to www.ussoccer.com (http://www.ussoccer.com). At the top, move you mouse over REFEREES. you can't miss it. The location of other important documents and directives, etc are also there and labeled very clearly.

The summary site you are talking about (ref link) will be updated at the end of the MLS season. Given the far more public nature of the Weeks-In-Review, the need for a constant summary hasn't been as necessary.


As those on the Pro List are aware, US Soccer has made GameOfficials.net its new assigning website for "pro" games. While personally I feel that the new site is more user-friendly, especially in regards to the interface, there are many things that have been left behind now that ussoccer-data.com is officially closed.

For instance, there is no way to look up past games and assigned referees. I used to go on about twice a month and check in on referees I've worked with to see what games they are doing. Also, the "Recommendations" section of the Pro Page was incredibly helpful when preparing for games. Combined with a very detailed self-evaluation feature, it made preparing for games and creating feedback for yourself and other referees very easy.

Also, does anyone know if or where the Federation will be posting periodic releases such as Weeks in Review, Conference Call Notes, or league referee manuals? There was a whole section on ussoccer-data dedicated to these things, and now there doesn't seem to be a way to go and look them up. I know the new website "The Ref Link" has past notes, but there is a lag time between new releases from Chicago and posting by the guy who runs the website.

If anyone knows the status of these features I, and I'm sure many others, would be very interested to know what is going on. I hope that in an effort to improve the assigning interface that US Soccer has not sacrificed the "little things" that added tremendously to the old Pro Page.

[bluedevils]

The "recommendations about teams" section you seek is available, but only for games in which you are assigned a team that has feedback from other refs. In other words...unless you are reffing the Chicago Fire, you can't go see what the refs have left as feedback on them. Makes sense given the far more public nature of this new site than the old one. This feature was added back in sometime in mid July I believe.


I don't really like this restriction, and I'm not sure why it was deemed necessary. How is the new site more public than the old? Don't both sites require a user ID and password, which are distributed only to the officials with a 'pro ID' ??