2008 ANNUAL HEAD REFEREE MESSAGE

ADMINISTRATION

During 2008 PWSRA held six meetings. A total of 377 referees attended these meetings which is 25% more than attended in 2007. Presenters at our meetings included National Instructor, Dan Heldman; National Assessor, Klaus Staefe; National Referee Emeritus, Ben Jones; the VYSA and Region I Young Male Referee of the Year, Ryan White; the PWSRA Young Referee of the Year, Stephanie Myrick; as well as members of PWSRA and PWSI Staff.

TRAINING

PWSRA conducted five new referee courses in January, February, March and August, training 59 new Grade 9 referees and 83 new Grade 8 referees. Our training program is recognized as a leader in northern Virginia . Refs comes from miles around to certify with us. Forty one three or 29% were local and joined PWSRA.

 

We conducted three recertification classes August, October, and November. We recertified 93 referees in these three classes. In these three classes we made space available for more than 300 referees to attend.

For the first time, PWSRA also sponsored a "senior" recertification clinic for referees at Grade 7 and above. This was held in September. Seventeen senior referees attended.

 

In addition to classroom training we also offered two on-field clinics in the spring for new referees.

OUTREACH TO COACHES

John Andre, representing PWSRA made a presentation on the Myths of the Game to a U13G travel team. This was not, a PWSI team but a team from another club who took advantage of our standing offer to come discusses this video, or other videos, to teams and parents who want to learn more about the Laws.

 

 

REFEREE COVERAGE

For all regularly scheduled Saturday games, we had 100% assigned coverage on all games in both spring and fall seasons. In both the Spring and Fall we missed 100% coverage because of no-shows, ending with 99.8%.

 

We still struggle with rain makeups. We know that we cannot reschedule an entire Saturday, move it to the following Sunday, and be able to cover all the games. The addition of two all weather turf at Howison Park has helped immensely. Never again will an entire Saturday schedule be wiped out due to rain although severe weather is another matter. Including all games, including those rain makeup games on Sundays, our coverage stood at more the 99% for the year.

WAGS TOURNAMENT

For three days in October, we assigned all and supplied most of the referees to the WAGS Tournament.

 

 

 

END OF YEAR MESSAGE

Simply looking at everything our association has accomplished one can sit back and pat ourselves on the back. Few associations can claim 100% coverage, or close to it, be proud of having national assessors, referees, and instructors at our fingertips. And we are proud.

In addition to our assessors and referees, we also are home to the two-time VYSA Young Male Referee and Region I Referee of the Year, Ryan White. There is a lot to be proud of.

I thank each of you for your support as Head Referee. I can’t say five years ago that being Head Referee was something I envisioned. But I’m here for another year and we need to look forward and not back.

We should be also be proud of the club we are affiliated with. Prince William Soccer Inc. is recognized as one of the top clubs in the state and region and is a Nike Premier Club. During the time that I have been Head Referee the club has installed two all weather surface fields which makes scheduling easier. Referees know, barring severe weather, that there will be a game.

The club has also successfully hired full time managers as well as recreational and travel coordinators. In short, the club has been very successful and we should always be proud to say that we ref for PWSRA or PWSI.

While the club has enjoyed perhaps, unprecedented success, the referees are still stuck in 2002. I say 2002 because at the end of 2001 PWSI was a leader in attracting referees with some of the best pay in northern Virginia . PWSI paid rates for all levels that were equal, and in some case, more than the travel leagues.

In February 2002, PWSI cut the pay of referees to save approximately $10,000 per year. Where they used to use referees for U7s they eliminated refs at those games. Pay for U08s was cut from $25 per game to $18 per game. U09, which was tied to travel, was $27 and was reduced to $20. Today that travel U09 game pays $35.

Other clubs are doing more. SYA has paid mentors, observers, and supervisors. They assign fourth officials for SFL U16 and U19 games. NVSC has hired referee supervisors to be at the fields each weekend. Ashburn, Braddock Road, Burke, Fairfax , Loudoun, Southwestern, and Springfield , all pay $50 or more for a U19 game. PWSI still pays $37. In 2002 that was $35.

Referees deserve fair compensation for their work. Fairness, is determined in part, by what others pay. A referee for Burke does no more work in a U19 game than a referee for PWSI.  

 

The result of such disparity of pay between other clubs and travel is that we are seeing more of our referees bypassing PWSI rec games and moving to these other clubs or taking travel games simply for higher pay. It is becoming harder to cover the older PWSI rec games at 100% because there are fewer PWSRA refs willing to work those games. We are losing the availability of those refs who move on to travel which leaves fewer experienced refs to mentor our less experienced refs.  

Sadly, many of these refs are not equipped to handle the challenges of travel. Assessors, instructors, and fellow referees reluctantly must agree with the assessment of some coaches and club administrators that some of the travel refs are simply not game ready. But the problem will only get worse as long as there is such a disparity is pay between clubs and travel.

The good news is that we have more than enough young referees. In fact, we have so many that for the first time we capped the number of young referees we accepted last year. We are limited in the number of new referees that we can work with and did not want to be unfair to new youth referees and throw them on games without having a chance to work with them.

But we need to attract and keep more adult referees. While we are proud of our coverage we have to recognize there are times we are putting children in difficult positions. On one U14 match in the fall we had three teens on a crew and the only adult on site was on the next field over.

We are starting to miss the newer adults who are certifying then skipping the excellent program that we try to build within PWSRA. When NCSL offers $35 for a U09 middle they jump at that game rather than take one of our rec games. They are going to the Braddock Roads and Southwesterns.

We are a leader in training refs. The statistics bear that out. We want to keep those new adults here and make them proud to say they work for PWSI. But the same club that has added turf fields and replaced volunteers with paid staff will need to be fair to the referees. We simply cannot keep our older, experienced referees and attract the new generation of adult refs at these rates.

 

During the fall, the PWSRA Board has met to work on a comprehensive pay proposal which will be fair to the referees. Over the next couple months, we intend to present this to PWSI so that it can reclaim its position as a premier club not only for players and facilities but also as the number one place for referees to work.

We are hopeful that this initiative will make PWSRA and PWSI an even better place to referee than it has been in the past. We look forward to a great 2009!

 

Barry L Sherry 
PWSRA/PWSI Head Referee 
December 31, 2008