Region 177 has Referee Mentors who are available to work with both new and experienced referees to provide positive feedback to help improve their refereeing skills and confidence. These experienced referees can be identified on our fields as they wear red referee jerseys when not officiating a game. The Mentor Program is intended for new and existing Regional Referees who want to improve their refereeing skills along with Intermediate Referee Candidates who are working toward their Intermediate or Advanced Certifications.
Why use a mentor?
For new and existing Regional Referees, a mentor can give you support during those first few games early in the season. They also help to reinforce your good practices and provide friendly feedback for areas that could use improvement. Mentoring sessions do not even count as "observations" and certainly are not "assessments". Generally, you will be told three things you do well and two things to try to improve upon. A mentor also provides an experienced referee to directly ask all the questions that invariably come up after a game (as opposed to trying to look things up later in the Laws or online). In addition to a mentor, there are great various documents and video links below to help you in your referee journey.
For Intermediate Referee Candidates, a mentor provides constructive criticism to help you prepare for your observation as well as a sounding board for questions about the nuances of play and refereeing. An experienced mentor can help you take your game to the next level. For Advanced Referee Candidates mentoring helps with your preparation for assessment.
In-game mentoring options (your choice):
- Stand with you side-by-side (whether you are center or AR) to advise (but we won’t make calls)
- Watch your match from the sideline, offer tips at halftime, then after the game discuss your strengths and a few suggested areas for improvement
- Referee the same game as one of your Assistant Referees (ARs)
- Watch your match from the sideline and communicate with you during the game via earpiece radio to answer your questions and provide feedback
How to Request a Mentor
- Use MatchTrak to sign up for a game at least a week prior to the game.
- Put a check in the checkbox to request a mentor.
- Before the game, a member of the mentor team will sign up in the Online Referee Scheduler to mentor you (in some cases the mentor may sign up to AR the game). Their name will show in MatchTrak and ideally the mentor will contact you prior to the weekend
- Allow an extra fifteen minutes after the game for discussion and feedback from your mentor
It is up to you if you like your mentor and want to ask for their email or phone number. Personality is one of the factors in becoming a mentor, but if you don’t happen to “click” with your mentor, have any negative experience, or desire a different mentor, please contact the Mentoring Coordinator. Requesting a mentor for subsequent games does not necessarily guarantee the same previous mentor can make it. Assigning mentors can be a challenge as most mentors are obligated to referee older division matches which can introduce scheduling conflicts.
How to Become a Mentor
If you are interested in becoming a referee mentor, please review the AYSO Referee Mentor Handbook and reach out to the Regional Referee Administrator so we can discuss expectations and skills needed. If you're a good fit then we can enable you to sign up as a mentor in Matchtrak.