Ventura Soccer Referees

My WordPress Blog

SCSRA-Ventura Membership

In order to receive game assignments for any USSF-affiliated game or tournament, referees must satisfy two requirements:

  1. Membership in SCSRA-Ventura.  Here is the Membership Roster as of May 30, including status of SCSRA dues and USSF registration.  In order to receive game assignments, members must remain in good standing as defined in our association constitution and bylaws.
  2. USSF Registration.  Members must appear on the CalSouth Registered Officials List  before they can be assigned USSF sanctioned games by the SCSRA-Ventura Assignor. The Registered Officials List is controlled by the CalSouth Referee Registrar.

In order to receive game assignment for high school games in Ventura County, you must be a member of Ventura SCSOA (Unit I).  High school leagues are affiliated with NFHS, not USSF.

How to Become, or Renew as, a Member

The process of becoming a new member of SCSRA-Ventura is identical to the process of annually renewing membership:

  1. Fill out the online SCSRA-Ventura membership application form completely, submit it, print it out, and
  2. US Mail the application along with membership dues as directed on the application form.

Note that these annual membership dues paid to SCSRA-Ventura are distinct from the annual USSF Registration Fee paid to CalSouth.  The SCSRA-Ventura membership year starts on March 1.

If you are new to SCSRA-Ventura, then when you are added to Arbiter you will receive an emailed invitation from Arbiter Sports.  Arbiter is the system our association uses to assign games (as do many other associations).  Follow the instructions in the email to set up your account so that you can be assigned games.

How To Become, or Recertify as, a USSF Referee

For the authoritative description of becoming or recertifying as a USSF referee, see the CalSouth listing of requirements.  CalSouth also has a separate page devoted to How to Become a Referee.  For your convenience, here is a summary of the annual, biennial, and one-time requirements.

A. Annual USSF Recertification Requirements

  1. USSF Registration.  Register through the CalSouth site and pay the USSF Registration Fee.  Note that this fee is separate from the SCSRA-Ventura membership dues.  USSF Registration is for the calendar year starting January 1.
  2. Laws of the Game Test.  You must pass an annual test provided by CalSouth.
  3. Training Requirement.  You must have at least 5 in-service hours provided through SCSRA-Ventura monthly meetings, other associations’ meetings, or CalSouth.  Here is the current set of training hours reported to CalSouth for calendar year 2023.  For last year’s records, see here.
  4. For those 18 and older, SafeSport Requirement.  The first time through, this takes about two hours.  Each year after that, the “refresher” is much shorter, typically 15 minutes.

B. Biennial Requirements

  • For those 18 and older, Federal Background Check.  This used to be a one-time-only requirement, but US Soccer now requires a background check every two years.  This is check done automatically as part of LiveScan Fingerprinting when turning 18 or first becoming a USSF-certified referee.  After that, USSF will contact you shortly before your background check expires.

C. One-Time-Only Requirements

  1. Sudden Cardiac Arrest Training.  Link provided on your personal “Certificates” tab within CalSouth.
  2. Concussion Training.  Link also provided on your personal “Certificates” tab within CalSouth.
  3. Safe and Healthy Playing Environments.  Taken with initial CalSouth training.
  4. For those 18 and older, DOJ LiveScan Fingerprinting.  This is required of any adult working any youth game.

D. Referees Turning 18

When you turn 18, you must satisfy the SafeSport and LiveScan requirements above.

  • SafeSport – About a week or two before you turn 18, complete the SafeSport training.  The link (and magic code) is provided on your personal “Certificates” tab within CalSouth.  As long as your name and email in SafeSport is exactly the same as in CalSouth’s records, when you complete the training, the training certificate will be automatically transferred to CalSouth.  (Save the certificate anyway, just in case.)  If you have not completed this requirement by the time you turn 18, you will be removed from the CalSouth Registered Officials List at its next update.  There is no Grace Period.
  • LiveScan Fingerprinting – As soon as you turn 18, take this Live Scan Form to a LiveScan location.  Owing to laws concerning minors, you cannot begin this process before you turn 18.  However, for LiveScan fingerprinting, CalSouth recognizes a 90-day Grace Period when referees turn 18 .  Typically, it takes a couple of weeks between fingerprinting and CalSouth receiving the resulting report, so 90 days is more than adequate as long as you don’t delay getting started.  If the 90 days expires without CalSouth receiving a LiveScan report, you will removed from the CalSouth Registered Officials List at its next update.