Grassroots certification is just the first step on the road
to a professional referee career.
There is a pathway that involves five stages
from the grassroots level to FIFA level. Each level has different requirements
for certification.
Let’s look at how you progress from grassroots level referee
to professional level referee.
To become a professional referee, you need to be a
certified National referee or assistant referee that the
Professional Referee Organisation (P.R.O.) has identified and evaluated as
suitable to progress to professional level refereeing.
Becoming a professional referee involves time, experience,
and hard work. Still, knowing the steps you need to get there will set you off
in the right direction.
There are four steps to becoming a professional referee:
- Complete
your grassroots level referee certification
- Complete
the necessary qualifications to become a regional referee
- Complete
the necessary qualifications to become a National referee
- Receive
an invitation from the Professional Referee Organisation (P.R.O.) to
become a professional referee.
Let’s look at each of these in a little more detail.
1. Complete Your Grassroots Level Referee Certification
We have already gone over how to become a grassroots level
referee in the first section of this article.
Becoming a referee at this level is the only way to
achieving the goal of being a professional referee.
Professional referees rely on their years of previous
experience to perform at the high level they need to as a professional. The
time spent officiating youth and amateur soccer games is the foundation for the
rest of their career.
If you have the opportunity to officiate grassroots soccer
gain all you can from the experience.
2. Complete the Qualifications to Become a Regional
Referee
Once a referee has become capable and confident refereeing
grassroots level soccer, they can progress to the next level – Regional
Referee.
A Regional referee can officiate in regional soccer
events, competitive state soccer competitions, and even leagues.
Here are the requirements necessary to become a certified
regional referee:
Age |
18 year or more |
Enrollment |
Registration |
Previous game experience |
50 games as a referee |
Previous certification experience |
Minimum of 3 consecutive years as a grassroots referee |
Training |
Regional referee courses and on-field experience |
Safety and compliance |
SafeSports trained |
Laws of the game update and test |
Online-national test |
Fitness test |
Sprint/interval test |
Practical evaluation |
Minimum of 3 passing evaluations as a referee. |
Requirements for US Soccer Regional Referee License
Certification
As you can see, the most significant differences to achieve
this level of certification are:
- experience
on the field,
- fitness
tests,
- and
passing three evaluations.
A Repeated Sprint Ability test (RSA) is the most common
fitness test for referees, which tests sprint ability. The second is an
interval test. Some optional tests you may encounter are the dynamic yo-yo test
and intermittent yo-yo test.
3. Complete the Qualifications to Become a National
Referee
After a minimum of two years as a regional referee, you may
qualify to become a National Referee.
National referees can officiate national and professional
games in the USL Championship, the NWSL, and any other league except MLS.
Here are the requirements necessary to become a certified
national referee:
Enrollment |
Selected by the national selection
committee |
Previous experience |
100 games at adult amateur level |
Previous certification experience |
Minimum of 2 consecutive year as regional referee |
Training |
Attend and complete national camp |
Safety and compliance |
SafeSports trained |
Laws of the game update and test |
Online-national test |
Fitness test |
FIFA fitness test |
Practical evaluation |
Minimum of 3 passing national evaluation as referee or AR |
Requirements for US Soccer National Referee License
Certification
The most significant difference between the previous step
and this one is that the Soccer national selection committee will invite a
Regional referee to become a National referee.
The selection committee will invite a Regional referee to
attend a National Camp. On successful completion of this camp, along with
completing:
- A
National Match Official Video Test
- A
National Match Official Written Test
- A
Fitness Test
- And
Practical Evaluations,
a referee will become a qualified National referee.
Being a national referee is the final step before
becoming a professional referee.
4. Receive an Invitation from the PRO To Become a
Professional Referee.
After a minimum of two years as a National referee, a
referee is eligible to be invited to become a professional referee.
Professional soccer referees can officiate games in any
domestic competition, including M.L.S. They can also officiate a selection of
international games.
Here are the requirements necessary to become a certified
professional referee:
Enrollment |
Selected by PRO |
Previous experience |
50 games as a referee |
Previous certification experience |
Minimum of 2 years as national referee |
Training |
P.R.O. pre-season camp |
Safety and compliance |
SafeSports trained |
Laws of the game update and test |
Online-national test |
Fitness test |
FIFA fitness test |
Practical evaluation |
Passing P.R.O. assessment criteria |
Requirements for Professional Soccer Referee
Certification
The most interesting part about this final stage in becoming a professional referee is that professional referees are managed by an independent company –Professional Referee Organization (PRO).
The PRO will invite specific candidates to become
professional referees. A referee’s selection is based on their performance and
aptitude as a National Referee.
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