Advancement

REFEREE ADVANCEMENT

Refereeing in Montana is very rewarding; however, advancing beyond the lowest level here is difficult due to a few limiting factors. We do not currently have a state-wide adult amatuer soccer league where full-length matches are played as required as part of the Regional Referee upgrade and recertification process. You can learn more about the U.S. Soccer Referee Pathway by clicking this link.

The Montana SRC recognizes these issues and has instituted the below upgrade process to recognize those referees that should be a Regional Referee but don't have the means to do so.

advanced MONTANA referee

A new license was introduced in 2023 within the State of Montana called the "Advanced Referee". Referees that meet the below requirements may upgrade to this new license. Benefits of upgrading include assignment priority for leagues and in-state tournaments, recognition of your advancement for assignors both here in Montana and when traveling as well as some leagues or tournaments will pay a higher game fee or bonus. The requirements are not quite as strict as upgrading to a Regional Referee, but the online course work is the same.

Please note that U.S. Soccer will still recognize you as only a "Referee." This is an in-state upgrade.

Requirements:

Age: You must be 18+ years of age when registering for the upgrade.
Hold a current year Referee license. (You must be licensed to be assigned to matches for evaluations.)
Minimum completed game requirements: A full list of games that meet or exceed the below must be submitted to the SRA that contains the match date, age, competition, gender, game duration, location, and position.
- (25) Referee and (15) Assistant Referee on U18+ youth, adult amateur, varsity high school, or college with a minimum of 80-minute game duration.
Receive a recommendation for upgrade: Prior to paying and completing any match evaluations and course work, reach out to an Assignor to request a match and have a Mentor/Coach informally evaluate you on your readiness for an upgrade. Ask them to look for areas needing improvement and what a formal evaluation will look like. The Mentor/Coach should give you a formal recommendation that you can provide to the SRC. This step can be done anytime you like! Simply request an informal evaluation in OMS and have a match assignment ready to go.
Register and pay: The Advanced Referee Upgrade clinic is $70. (You must hold a current Referee license to register.) Contact an SRC member for the registration code needed and provide them with the Mentor/Coach recommendation.
Complete all online coursework: You will complete the same coursework as a Regional referee would so you will see this referenced all throughout the course. There may be supplemental course work not shown in OMS that will help you succeed.
Request match evaluations: (These may be done before or after you request to upgrade.)
- You must be assigned to and pass as one (1) Referee and one (1) Assistant Referee on a U18+ youth, adult amateur, varsity high school, or college match with a minimum of 80-minute game duration in the same license year. Evaluation requests must be submitted through OMS. We recommend working on a second Referee evaluation as soon as possible after passing the required evaluations to apply toward the license maintenance requirement before the end of the calendar year.
- A fee for each evaluation must be paid when requesting evaluations to compensate the Referee Mentor/Coach performing the evaluation and paperwork. Additional charges may apply for travel and lodging if needed.
- One exception to the assessment fee and game length requirement is if you request to be evaluated at the MYSA State Cup or MYSA Montana Cup, both will be waived. (Contact the SRC for a code to enter when submitting your evaluation request in OMS.)
License Maintenance: Each year you must request and pass one (1) maintenance evaluation as a Referee on a U18+ youth, adult amateur, varsity high school, or college match with a minimum of 80-minute game duration to apply toward the next license year's requirements. Failure to maintain this requirement will result in a reduction back to a standard Referee. (One exception to the evaluation fee and game length requirement is if you request to be evaluated at the MYSA State Cup or MYSA Montana Cup, both will be waived. Contact the SRC for a code to enter when submitting your evaluation request in OMS.)

Step 1: Start at OMS

Montana Referee Registration System (OMS)

Go to Officials Management Systems (OMS).
Click on "Member Sign In".
Visit your Member Profile area to verify your address and information are accurate.

6. At the top, click on Registration, then Register for Clinic / Fitness Test.

7. Answer the top question and click on Referee and Upgrade, then Submit.

8. Back on your Home or Dashboard screen, you'll now see the Advanced Referee Upgrade clinic is now available. Click on Reserve Clinic. This will add the fees required to the right and activate the payment process.

A code is required from the SRC to complete registration.

9. You'll now have access to the Online Lessons on your dashboard. If you've already completed the safety courses, you'll be able to bypass those.

Step 2: Request and Complete Evaluations

1. Before requesting an evaluation, you should notify your local assignor of your intent to upgrade or maintain your license, and that you need to be assigned to the required matches. Once you accept those matches, go to your OMS Dashboard and go to Advancement > Request Assessment/Evaluation. You'll do this for both Center and AR. (Ignore the Record AR Assessment option.)

Note: Assessments for upgrades may be done before or after you request to upgrade, as long as they are completed within the same license year.

2. Select the year you are upgrading for and enter your assigned game information and click Submit. We suggest going for the next license year than the current year so you have time to complete Evaluations.

A request will be sent to the Director of Assessment for review and a Referee Mentor/Coach will be assigned to your match. In the event that one is not available, you may need to cancel the request and find another match at another date or time. You will be notified when a Mentor/Coach is assigned and that payment is now due for the assessment. This must be paid before the assignment is finalized. Return to your dashboard to see and pay those fees.

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