2018 grade 7 re-cert

Oregon has always required the physical fitness test for grade 7. We are still doing the 12 minute run and 50 & 200 M sprints. (It's easier to administer with only one instructor.)

 

Good there should be a fitness test for grade 7. I had to take one back in the day when I was a 7. I know for my state it's not required. However, to be a 7 you have to work one of the adult leagues and find a class. I know it's not the easiest things because they don't always advertise them.

 

That's really odd. Why didn't they do what US Soccer referee's department was trying to encourage. More 9's for those in-house rec referees. Grade 8 for all those who want to do "competitive youth" and 7 for adult. 6 = State Referee.
Our state hasn't changed the grade 7 (the best of my knowledge) but I am not a grade 7 referee anymore.

 

As maintaining G7 I had to run the grade 6 test this year. 35/40 and 6.8ish on sprint.

 

Wow. Seems excessive.

We have two versions of 7. Those that just want the title basically just have to ask for it.

This planning to upgrade take the 45/45 fitness test same as 6s. They also have to pass one assessment I think.

 

"Mandated" is such a strong term. First, there is no audit or review by Chicago of what a state requires for any grade below 4. Second, there is no audit or review by Chicago of what requirements any individual referee has met or not met before they were registered, other than age. Third, in effect, our requirements are more stringent than the USSF template, not less.

When Chicago came up with the easy 7 standards, as others have described, there was a lot of foot dragging, passive-aggressive behavior by various states. Yeah, I (as SRA at the time) was part of that, with the agreement of our adult and youth associations. I was not the only one, however, by any means. Our decision was that the old grade 7 requirements were useful information for assignors about the ability level of referees. The new standards are an attempt to paper over the disconnect between Chicago's view of youth and adult amateur soccer and the reality on the ground, for referees and state associations. Their new standards assume that there is some bright shiny line between those refereeing youth and those refereeing adult amateur and it ain't that way, at least not down in the trenches in our state. As I've said before, our state's SRC office manager, who has never played soccer, much less refereed it, or even watched that much soccer, took the grade 7 test, without having read the Law book, and passed with a 90. What does that tell you?

 

But where’s the rum gone?

 

In Florida the fitness requirement for Grade 7 is to pass the Grade 6 Sprint and Interval test.

I moved here from Tennessee which had the split upper/lower half Grade 7 (I was a lower half grade 7).

 

In Eastern New York, we are required to get an assessment, but not a physical fitness test. When I first became a 7, we were required to take a fitness test. I have not taken the re-certification test for a 7 yet this year, but I remember last year's was really easy and about managing an adult game.

 

Chicago had a goal of "lots" of grade 7's, they boasted, threatened etc and said "no fitness test can be required for G7". Many states ignored them. As SDI at the time in my state, I argued with Ryan in person so NH was on his radar because I told him how stupid I thought his plans were. NH took a "grey area" path, there was a path to G7, maintenance and even to get ready to be a 6 that met Chicago "rules". However there was a second path that required fitness test/assessment, just like the "old rules".

Now they are putting it back to the states by the sound of it, where it should be.

 

But, at the same time, they want to appoint the SRAs.

 

These are the requirements for Grade 7 in Missouri:

Grade 7 – Referee

The purpose of this Grade 7 Referee is to prepare officials for the competitive youth game. Based on the level of training provided, U.S. Soccer recommends that these officials be assigned accordingly to best service the game.




Notes

All State Referee Association requirements must be made public.

All training requirements can be completed online and/or in the classroom setting as determined by the State Referee Association and there are no minimum number of hours associated with either requirement.

At a minimum, U.S. Soccer recommends that training includes the completion of all online training materials for the Grade 7 Referee Course.

To remain at Grade 7, any Grade 7 Referee who attained their date of grade prior to 7-1-2015 are exempt from fitness and assessment requirements.

To be eligible for recommendation for assignments in the Dev. Academy League or USSF Div 3 games, a Grade 7 must pass the Grade 6 fitness test and pass an assessment as referee on one game annually. That assessed game must be 80 minutes, DSC, 11 vs 11, by Grade 7 or higher approved assessor.

BTW - The Grade 6 Fitness test is 45-45.

 

In New Jersey, they did not enforce the assessment for Grade 7's as they did last year, but have already completed 2 of 3 classes for the fitness testing.

The sprints are easy to pass, but if you're one of the refs that strays only 10 yards each way from midfield, don't even bother showing up as you'll fail the relay portion.

Attendance so far has been abysmal. Many folks that upgraded in the past don't care about being "downgraded" since they'll get assigned the same type of games anyway. The total number of 7's in the state should drop down to double digits once the classes are done.

 

Yeah, that's a big issue.
Unless assignors adhere to the vision, and only assign 7s and higher to adult games, there's very little reason to be a 7 unless it's as a pass through to State.

 

In defense of assignors, I don't know of any assignor who spends even one minute a week thinking about what USSF's vision is. This is going to sound worse than it is meant to be, but assignors work for the league/tournament, not USSF or the state's youth/adult association. They don't get paid unless and until they get Mr. Fog A. Mirror on games. Then, maybe, they can think about whether Fog is the right guy for this game with these teams. IMHO, the good assignors do that, if only because they don't want to get the complaints from the teams, the ones who write their check, about the quality of officials they get. That's been the downfall of more than one assignor, in my experience.

Around here, we don't have a lot of referees who get to grade 7 and immediately drop back to grade 8. Assignors did tell me that they valued the information that this referee has met higher standards to get that grade 7. But there also are nowhere near enough grade 7's and above to cover even just the centers on all of the adult games we have. So grade 8's get those games, too. My daughter was doing a regular schedule of men's league games like anybody else, all solo in those days, as a 16 year old grade 8.

 

"Mr Fog A Mirror" brought a chuckle and a memory from a few years ago.

Had an assignor at a tournament a few years ago who said, "If you can walk and chew gum, I want you refereeing this weekend. If you cannot, I want you on the line as an Assistant Referee this weekend"

 

I am taking the fitness test this spring. I am upgrading to Grade 7 in Maryland.