InTown and Travel
Be properly dressed:
- Official referee shirt – Yellow (primary), red, black, or blue (long or short sleeved – if it is cold and you only have a short sleeved uniform, wear a black long-sleeved shirt and layers underneath)
- Referee badge for the current year
- Black shorts
- Black shoes – cleats or sneakers
- Black soccer socks, preferably with white stripes
- Shirt tucked in!
Mandatory Equipment:
- Whistle
- Coin for coin toss
- Pad of paper and pencil
- Red and Yellow cards (travel only)
- Wristwatch
- Linesman flags (travel only – center must bring flags, ARs should bring flags too)
- Water bottle (stay hydrated!)
Optional Equipment and Clothing:
- Sunscreen
- Air pump
- Plastic Bag (to be used inside sports bag to keep clothing dry)
- Extra referee shirt in an alternate color
- Black warm-up pants (not preferred, but acceptable in cold weather)
- Long underwear
- Black gloves/black hat
- Jacket, black (only to be worn in extreme cold, if layers aren’t enough)
Arrive at least 15 minutes before game time to check the field:
- Goals must be secured to ground. If held with bags, bags must be to rear of frame.
- Check nets. Be aware if there is any hole and report after the game.
- Check that the field is lined adequately.
- Make sure the home coach has put out corner markers. Discs can be used to mark corners.
- Check field for obstacles. Remove any debris, such as rocks, sticks or trash.
- Look for dangerous conditions, especially inspecting for soft areas due to wetness, holes, rocks, etc. Confer with the coaches if you are considering canceling the game for safety concerns – but the final decision is up to you.
- Keep an eye on the weather too.
About 10 minutes before game time:
- Introduce yourself to the coaches.
- Let them know you understand the Zero Tolerance Policy. Do they?
- Collect team rosters. (travel only)
- Coach gives you 2, keep one roster, give one to opposing coach.
- Check coach pass cards.
Have players line up for inspection:
Call attendance from rosters. (travel only)
- BAYS: All players must be on roster. No hand-written names.
Check cleats: Soccer shoes. No metal cleats allowed. Sneakers OK.
Check shin pads: All players MUST wear. They must be completely covered by socks.
NO JEWELRY – NO CASTS. Players must remove all jewelry, including earrings.
- Soft hair elastics or very flat hair “snaps” are allowed. Casts are NOT allowed.
All players must be in uniform:
- Shirts must be matching or very similar. If not, players can wear pinnies.
- All shirts must be tucked in to start game, quarters and halves. You can ignore it if they come untucked
- during the game or ask player to tuck shirt in too.
- If extreme cold, players may wear sweatpants or leggings. They should be worn under shorts.
- Shirts may be worn under the uniform shirt.
- Goalkeepers MUST be dressed differently than players on BOTH teams.
- If the 2 teams have similar colors and you think it may be confusing, ask the home team to wear pinnies.
- This is up to you, not the coaches.
- Goalkeeper can wear soft-brim hat if sun is a factor.
- Field players may wear brimless hats if weather is cold
- Ask the players if they have any questions.
Call captains:
- Visiting team gets to call the coin flip
- Winner of coin flip chooses side of field, other team starts with ball
- Discuss any pertinent information with captains
After the game:
- Monitor teams as they shake hands.
- Contact Referee Director/Assignor to report any significant issue.
- Complete the game report on the BAYS website (travel only).