2008
Summer Information Sheet for Cambridge-Isanti, Centennial,
Princeton,
St Paul Blackhawks and
This year we are again using
Assign by Web to post game assignments.
If you worked for us last year, you are still set up with the same user
ID and password. If you haven’t worked
for us before, you will need to go to the Assign by Web website and sign
up. The address is www.assignbyweb.com/mdss. You will then receive a user ID and password
that you will use to access your schedule, please change your password when you
get it. You must return the W-9, proof
of age, and Waiver Form to us before we can assign you games. We need only one W-9 and one proof of age, no
matter how old you are. If you have
worked for us in the past, we don’t need another one. Ask if you are uncertain. We need a Waiver every year. Please notice the clubs we assign for at the
bottom of the Waiver. Circle the clubs
that you want to work for. Keep us
informed of any changes of your email and/or home addresses. Please make sure you consider your summer
games and any training dates when filling out the availability. Check our website for required meeting
dates. We will be going over how to
register with Assign by Web at these meetings.
Everyone’s calendar in Assign
by Web will be set to Unavailable. You
must go in and make yourself available for the days you can work. We found last year that some people signed up
and did not fill out their calendars so when we assigned them to games, they
were unable to work them. Game times are
usually 6:00 and 7:15 or 7:30. The
earliest we would start is 5:45, and that is only occasionally. Keep this in mind when filling out your
calendar. If you are available after
4:30 on a certain day, you don’t have to put that on the calendar because games
won’t start until after 4:30. Just mark
it available. If you are only available
before 6:30 on a certain day, you need to mark that day as unavailable because
we do not have any games that will end before 6:30.
Schedules will be put on www.assignbyweb.com/mdss. You will need to accept or reject EVERY game
that you are assigned. There is a link
on our website to Assign by Web. Please
make sure that you enter your correct E-mail address. You will also get an email notification if we
have changed your schedule. Please check
your email frequently. We will start
assigning around April 15. Keep your
calendar up to date so we can minimize the number of turned back games.
NEW REFEREES
Watch the website (www.merryhilger.com) for on-field training sessions for new officials this spring. New referees should take advantage of the training. Also returning officials with less than 3 years experience will benefit. It gives us a chance to see what age level you are ready to work.
REPORTING WHO WORKED THE
GAME
The coach should give you
a post card that is partially filled out with the date, game time, game number,
teams, field, and a place for all the referees to print their name (remember
that we need to be able to read it).
After the game all the referees should fill out this card, and the
center for the game should drop it in the mail the next day. Without this card you WILL NOT get paid. This
is also for us to verify who was at the game.
For Minnesota Revolution, North Metro and
If you don’t show up and we
didn’t get a phone call, we will call you to find out why. The second time you don’t show up for a game,
we will pull the remainder of your schedule.
If you do not drive and are unable to get a ride to a game you are
scheduled for, you MUST call us so we can try to get a replacement. This is a
job and these players are counting on you to show up for the games. You will be able to contact us any time, if
the need arises.
In
the event of bad weather, you need to show up for the game unless you get a
phone call saying the game was cancelled.
If you get a phone call saying the game will be rescheduled, you will
get first chance to the rescheduled date unless you have a conflict that night. If you do not get a call and do not show up,
it’s the same as a no show. If the
weather turns bad during the game, you will get still paid for the game. You must note on the game report how much
time was played in the game and what the score was. The District Director will decide whether the
game gets replayed or not. If you are
the referee, be sure to put your phone number on the game report in case the
District Director has any questions.
Different clubs have different policies regarding how to pay referees
for games that get cancelled just before they are started. That information is also on the web
site. If your game is cancelled because
of weather please call Merry or Diana and let them know how much time was
played. We need this information for the
reschedules.
During
the summer season we will have a weather line that you can call to see if there
are any special circumstances for that day.
This will include if the heat index is too high and how you should
adjust your game. The number is
651-641-4911. Make sure you use this
number. The coaches also have the number
to check on the conditions, you should not have to be told by them to shorten
the game, you should know that before you go to the field. The message will be changed everyday by 4:00
PM. Do not let a coach talk you into
playing a full game if conditions warrant that the game be shortened. The heat index and lightning policy are there
to protect the players.
Gold is the official uniform
color. If you have a gold team you must
wear your black shirt. Please
remember that all three officials have to wear the same uniform. If two of you have gold and the third one
doesn’t, then you must all wear black.
If you are a new official, be sure you get the gold shirt first because
that is the official uniform. Black is
now the alternate color, so please get a black as soon as you can. The black, or any other color, is the
alternate uniform and only if all three have the same one. If you work a tournament, you should ask them
how particular they would be about this.
There is a new style of uniform coming out this year. You do not need to go out and buy all new
shirts. Just make sure you all wear the
same color if you have different styles of shirts.
We do not want any official
working a competitive game that a son/daughter or sibling is playing in. That would be U11-U19. The exception here is U5-U8 and U9/10 since
they are non-competitive. You will have
to email Merry with this information or put it on your waiver. We will try to schedule so this doesn’t
happen, but if it does, please notify us as soon as you can. We will simply switch you with someone else
working that night.
When you are on the field,
you are a team. Work as a team. During half time talk about what happened in
the game. Senior officials should help
out the youth officials. Give them tips
on where to be on the field, holding the flag correctly, anything that you see
that will help them learn. New
officials, ask questions. That is how
you will learn to be a better official.
We will periodically be assessing officials. We can then determine if you are ready to move
up to the next level or if you need more training. Please notify us immediately of any problems
or concerns that you have during a game.
All coaches are required to
have a laminated player pass complete with signature and picture. If there is no adult with a pass, do not play
the game. There are no exceptions. All
the coaches were told this at the coaches meetings and it is in the information
they received from their district office.
Coaches were also told that any coach/assistant coach/manager with a
pass could coach any team within the club that they are affiliated with, even
if they have no connection to that team.
However, a coach from another club that has a pass cannot coach a team
that they are not affiliated with. For
example, a NSSA coach cannot coach a Centennial team if the Centennial coach is
not there or has been tossed from the game.
Please remember that a legal
player’s pass has a signature, picture and is laminated on both sides. You are required to keep all illegal passes
and do not allow players with illegal passes to play in the game, even if all
the passes are illegal. Write on the
game report that the team had illegal passes and put the passes and the game
report in the mail ASAP. And as always, NO
PASS, NO PLAY, NO EXCEPTIONS. If you
are given a pink card for a player, you need to check to see if the player has
sat out the required number of games. If
they have, then they can use the pink card as their pass for the game. If they need to sit out the game you are
working, do not sign the pink card until the game is completed. If you sign the card before the game and the
game is suspended early and will need to be replayed, you can’t un-sign the
pink card.
If you allow a game to be played and one team doesn’t have passes, you can be penalized by the MYSA, which could include suspension. You have to have the passes in your hand before you start the game. If they don’t have them, give them 15 minutes to get them to the field. If this is the first game of the night, you will have to shorten the halves to finish on time. If a coach has a problem with this, give him our phone number. There is no excuse for not having passes.
MYSA GAME REPORTS
You MUST have a
game report completed from each team before you start the game, and it must be
filled out correctly. If they don’t have
an official form, they need to get one.
You can’t start without a game report from each team, on the official
form from MYSA. There is a sample game
report on the web so you can see what the coaches need to have filled out and
what you need to fill out. Please look
at it and make sure you know exactly which parts need to be completed by the
coaches. You will notice that we have
highlighted in yellow what the coach needs to fill out. Make sure that the coach has filled in the
player name, registration number, and jersey number on the form. Make sure the jersey number on the game
report matches the number the player is wearing for that game. You must have at least 1 registered adult for
every game. If they have only 1
registered adult and they have to leave the game for any reason the game must
end unless you can find another registered adult for that club. Make sure that you put that information on
the game report when they step in.
REFEREE portion in on the
right side, we have underlined in green the areas that the referees need to
fill out. If you are the center referee,
make sure that you put your phone number on in case MYSA has any
questions. It is easier for them to call
you directly. They will not give your
number out to anyone. If you have any
questions about the game report please call us before your first game. There has been a real problem with how game
reports are filled out and the MYSA didn’t know it until last year when they
had all the game reports sent to them.
If the game report is not filled out correctly, give it back to the
coach and have him/her fix it. Do not
fix it for them because they will not learn how to do it correctly if you just
do it for them.
The home team MUST give you a
stamped, addressed envelope for the game reports and the center will mail
them. If the home team coach does not
give you a stamped, addressed envelope, charge him/her $1. Keep the $1 to offset the cost of the
envelope and the stamp. All game reports get sent
to the MYSA office at
Some teams are over rostering
on their team, which means they have more than 18 players if they are a U13-U19
team, more than 14 players if they are a U11-U12 team, and more than 12 players
if they are a U9-U10 team. These numbers
apply only to the traveling teams. There
is a new MYSA rule that U17-U19 teams can roster 22 players, no matter what
level they play at. Make sure that only
18 are dressed and play in the game. On
the game report, you will need to cross out the players that are not
there. The team can only have the number
listed below on the game report dressed for each game. You count the number of players in the main
part of the on the left and the number of players that are playing up for that
game. The total needs to be less than or
equal to the number listed below. If a
team has too many players in uniform ask the coach who is not playing and make
them change so that you can tell who is not playing. This means that if a coach plays a player
that he was not going to play, it needs to be reported on the game report.
Total number allowed on the game report for traveling
MYSA games
U9 & U10 12
U11 & U12 14
U13 and up 18
North Metro, Northern Lights,
NSSA, and White Bear have recreational or in-house programs. Check the web site for the rule differences
for the clubs and for a copy of the rules.
They will be posted there. We do
use the two-referee system for recreational games. Let us know if you have any questions about
this.
You must notify us at least
72 hours in advance if you are scheduled for a game and would like us to find a
replacement. Do not just go into Assign
by Web and reject the game. DO NOT try to find your own replacement, we will
find them. If we get less than 72 hours
notice, we will do what we can but you will have to do the game if we can’t
find a replacement. If you must cancel
the day of a game due to illness, injury or family emergency (these are the
only three excuses we will accept), you MUST call our cell phones.
Here are our phone numbers:
Merry Diana
Home 763-754-2047 Home 763-783-9660
Work 651-641-4129 until 3:30pm Work 763-717-6404 until 3:30pm
Cell 612-839-1680 Cell 763-670-7513
Please note that it is better to call us on our cell
phones if you need to get in touch with us immediately. We both have them on all the time during the
season.
Make sure that you mail your
postcards the day after you work a game to ensure that you get paid during the
correct pay period. Check the web site
to see the pay period ending date for each club. Please allow mailing time (1 week) before you
start calling about your check. Once we
record all the cards received, we then email the information to the club
treasurers so they can issue the checks.
You could get multiple checks if you work for more than one club. Know which clubs pay cash on the field so
that you collect your money from those teams before the game starts. Be sure and keep track of the games you work
so you can double-check your paycheck when you get it. Let us know of any problems as soon as
possible.
Pay rates for each position
can be found at www.merryhilger.com
for the different clubs. They are very
comparable to the other clubs in the area.
If you work a Premier (PR)
game, you will be paid a higher rate. Check the website for these special
rates. Only the more experienced
officials will be working Premier games.
Watch the team codes that you are working to see what level it is, PR,
C1, C2, etc.
Remember that
the two-whistle system is NOT ALLOWED for MYSA traveling games.
We think that we have a pretty good group off officials that work for us. Keep up the good work. If you have any questions or problems, please call us. We want to keep increasing the quality of our referees. We are here to help you become a better official.
Merry Hilger
Diana O’Connor