The State Referee Committee (SRC) oversees the administration of Recognized Referee Programs, as delegated, within the State of Washington including the training, development, instruction, assignment, mentoring, and assessment of referees and officials for all forms of soccer related competition within the State of Washington.

Washington State 2024 Youth Referees of the Year

Mallory and Deniz, congratulations on being selected the Washington State 2024 Youth Referees of the Year.

Washington Youth Soccer has selected Mallory Morris as this year’s Young Female Referee of the Year recipient.

Mallory is from Kent, WA and recently graduated from Kentlake High School. She is now in her first year at St. Martins University where she plays for their Women’s Soccer team and is pursuing a degree in Engineering.

She started refereeing at age 14 and developed a passion for officiating soccer. In the summer one can often find Mallory at one of the tournaments.

One of her Assignors says this: “Mallory is a referee as well as a great human that her peers strive to be like. She is always positive, professional and cheerful both on and off the field. Mallory quickly became one of my ‘go to’ referees!”

According to Mallory: “Being a player as well as a referee has allowed me to gain perspective an advantage on both sides of the game. I love the game. The first thing I do after a tournament is give my mom a rundown of the event and tell her stories about my friends.”

Please join us in congratulating Mallory on this prestigious honor. She will now be entered as the WYS nominee for US Youth Soccer Region IV Young Female Referee of the Year.

Washington Youth Soccer has selected Deniz Muhittinoglu as this year’s Young Male Referee of the Year.

Deniz is from Kenmore, WA and played soccer at Inglemoor High School. In addition to soccer, he was active in the Kenmore Community Youth Council as served as their Treasurer.

Deniz comes from a soccer family. He started “reffing” with his Dad in 2016. He has officiated at several WA Youth Soccer State Cups and also helps mentor new referees within Northshore Youth Soccer Association.

One of his Assignors says this: “My favorite thing about Deniz is his humility. I am confident that whatever match I put him on, it will be handled with professionalism. Everyone loves being around Deniz. He always has a positive attitude and tries to do his best both on and off the field.”

Deniz is currently a Freshman at Carnegie Mellon University studying Engineering.

Please join us in congratulating Deniz on this prestigious honor. He will now be entered as the WYS nominee for US Youth Soccer Region IV Young Male Referee of the Year.

Announcing WYS Rule Modifications for 2023-2024

2024 Referee and Referee Advanced Recertification Online Clinics Are Now Available

Amateur Sports Officials Assault Protection Bill

On Dec 30, 2022, the Washington State House of Representatives has added to their docket for the upcoming “2023 Regular Session” a bill requesting to add amateur sports officials to the assault protection that many other public serving professions already receive. Should this bill pass, Washington State will be only the 23rd state in the U.S. with any type of codified protection for amateur sports officials.

By adding amateur sports officials to the existing protected groups within RCW 9A.36.031, it would make assaults against amateur sports officials a class C felony. This protection is already afforded to bus drivers, police officers, health care workers, firefighters, judges, court workers.

The passage of this bill would continue to send a message to all that Washington State values the protection of amateur sports officials. The crisis we face with unsporting behavior across our state, and country, continues to drive officials away from our avocation, and without officials there would be no games.

Please spread the word about this bill. Ask everyone to contact their State Representatives and request that they sign onto this bill. Let’s get HB 1096-2023-24 passed. The more our legislators know how much this means to officials, the more likely we will be to ensure it gets made into law.

Find your State Representative: https://leg.wa.gov/house/Pages/default.aspx

Direct link to HB-1096-2023-24 information: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1096&Initiative=false&Year=2023

Direct Link to HB-1096-2023-24: https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2023-24/Pdf/Bills/House%20Bills/1096.pdf?q=20221230104402

RCW 9A.36.031: https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9a.36.031

Managing Referee Abuse & Assault

Soccer referee abuse and assault are very serious crimes against the sport and they continue to happen to our members. Misconduct against referees may occur before, during, and after a match — including travel to and from a match. It is critical that referees correctly identify and make a report of these incidents. Your SRC has developed two pages to assist you in recognizing and dealing with Referee Abuse and Assault. The first page provides information on recognizing abuse and assualt and how and when to report it. It may be viewed on the page Refereee Abuse & Assault. Guidance for how you should conduct yourself when you experience Abuse or Assault is provided on this Supplemental page. A link is also provided in the sidebar and the right of this page.

It is requested and recommended that all recertifying and new referees complete the new lesson providing online instruction on recognizing and dealing with Referee Abuse and Assault.

If you have not already completed it, the lesson may be taken by clicking Here.

Concussion Protocol Player Development Initiatives
For Washington Youth Soccer

Washington Youth Soccer has instituted the US Soccer Concussion Protocol and Player Development Initiatives Rules of Competition for all Youth Small Sided Games (SSG-U6-U12) with modifications. These initiatives are effective immediately. To assist in the education of Washington State Referees, an online course has been created. This course has been included in the Annual Recertification lessons. However, some referees have already recertified for 2017-2018 and we encourage you to take the online course at the following link: Small Sided Games (WA)."

NOTE: These changes apply to all US Youth Soccer and US Club Soccer Small Sided Games with the following exceptions: US Club Soccer games for U11 do NOT use the Build Out Line for Offside. Offside for US Club Soccer games for both U11 and U12 are in effect from the Halfway Line.

Referees are encouraged to work with coaches before each game to determine everyone's understanding of the new rules for Small Sided Games (U6 - U12).