The first step in becoming a youth soccer referee for Lakeshore United is training. A good soccer official is fair, confident, assertive, and understands the rules of the game. All of these items are covered in our FREE youth soccer referee training course. The course is a single 3-hour session that is offered twice a year. New referees are required to attend and returning referees are highly encouraged to attend at least once a year. Training is often held virtually with previous courses made available online.
All referees complete an availability form at the beginning of each season which will be used for game assignments. Referees can officiate every week or only a few games a season depending on interest and availability. There will be one referee per game for Grades 1-4 and two referees per game for Grades 5-8. If your availability throughout the season changes, please fill out the form again and indicate your latest availability.
We will schedule all referees with the best interest of the organization in mind. Experience, certification or current training, and reliability are factors used when determining the schedule. Requests to officiate with a friend will be considered but not guaranteed. An officiating schedule will be emailed out to all referees each week. Referees are expected to check their game assignments and confirm their availability each week. When the schedule is released, there are often opportunities to work additional games if desired - even if you previously indicated that you were not available. If there are open games and you want to cover them, please reply back to the referee coordinator.
Every referees favorite part - getting paid! The pay scale for the LUFC Community League is determined by the grade level of the game and the number of officials working the game. To officiate LUFC Community League games, referees at a minimum must complete the 3-hour club training. However, if referees have been trained by US Soccer and hold a USSF license, then club training is not required. Paychecks are sent out once per season, approximately 2 weeks after the last game.,
