Reference: RidgeStar-Soccer Referee

A Soccer Referee Management Site is an Internet Site that automates and activates specific processes that enable a Soccer Referee scheduling organization to manage the assignment of Soccer Referees to a wide variety of Matches.

This page describes what a Referee Management Site site does, how it works, how much it costs, and the features provided in the RidgeStar Service Package. You can also visit a sampling of our existing Soccer Referee Management Sites and find out how to get started on building one for your organization. OR, even better, visit our Referees.Biz site for an extended description of this type of site and a operational demo..

What is a Referee Management Site?

The act of assigning qualified individuals as Referees to officiate a Soccer Match seems so simple. That is, until the exact mechanics and procedures are explored to their logical conclusion. In actuality, there are a lot of principles, mechanisms, and decisions that need to be associated with the simple act of assigning Referees to Matches.

A Referee Management Site is intended to provide the tool to implement the assigning group's policies about how to get Referees to their Assignments and to insure that appropriate "Referee distribution" happens.

What can the Site do?

A typical Soccer Referee Management Site includes the following functions:

• Users can logon to the Site; establish a password; maintain their name, address, and Email information; and view any information that is available to them
• Referees can inquire about matches that are assigned to them; report completion of a match; look for unassigned matches; review the Calendar of upcoming activities; file misconduct reports; SelfAssign themselves a Match (with appropriate controls), and review the match fees that are due
• Organizations, such as Leagues and Schools, can review what Referees are assigned to their upcoming matches; review the scores from completed matches; and view the fees that they have paid or will be billed for
• Assignors can assign Referees to Matches; check for Referee availability; send Email messages to all or a subset of the Users; and check to see which matches they are responsible for filling
• Administrators can add, update, or delete any entry from any Database Table; monitor Site activity interactively; and establish the type of authority each User can have in the Site

If you would like a printed document describing the features in the Referee Management Site, consider downloading our Referee Scheduling Site Overview or our tri-fold version.

How does the Site work?

RidgeStar creates and hosts the Site. We take care of all the technical design and implementation and insure that the site stays operational. The RidgeStar Client provides the personnel to maintain and operate the site, such as a chapter Administrator, one or more Assignors, and Board Members.

The Site is divided into several areas of authority (such as Referee, Services, Administrator, and Assignor) that can be accessed when a Site Visitor (User) logs on to the Site using a password. The User's database profile indicates their Site privileges. For example, an Referee can look up assigned Matches and report completed Matches, but cannot typically "Add" a new Match that requires coverage (this task usually belongs to the Assignor and/or Administrator).

Basically, anyone who is associated with the Soccer Referee Management Site can access, view, and change the parts of the Site that apply to them. This includes the Organization's administrative staff, game Schedulers or Assignors, licensed Soccer Referees, client teams, Coaches, schools, and/or leagues, and the general public.

What is in the Database?

A typical site is made up of an SQL Database (usually, MySQL based) that contains a series of tables (as the following example demonstrates):

Accounting

Contains an entry for fiscal operations (Match Reports, Chapter Dues, etc.)

Audit

Records a single Event of significance that may occur on the Site (self assignment, etc.).

Documents

Permits the recording of key information documents both on and off the Site that support the Site's programs and goals

Events

Contains an entry for each Event on the Organization's upcoming Calendar. It also contains Announcements of a transitory nature that the Organization wants available to its membership during their next visit to the Site

Fields

Establishes a name for each Field that will have one or more Matches scheduled onto it.

Help/Information

An optional table that permits the Site owner to post information that will be displayed as HTML pages containing Help, Instructions, and/or Procedures of significance to the Organization

Locations

Describes a single physical address that is the site for one or more Fields

Matches

Contains an entry for each scheduled Match between two teams that the Soccer Referee Scheduling Organization is supposed to provide one or more Officials to, or that they have already provided one or more officials to

Options

A optional mechanism permitting a site to set certain control point information to manage the operations of the site

Users

Contains an entry for each User (Referee, Assignor, Administrator, League, Coach, School, Member, etc.) who is authorized to use the Site.

Who Owns It?

RidgeStar provides the expertise to design, implement, and operate the site. The Site pages, design elements, graphics, etc. created to meet your needs remain the property of RidgeStar. We charge you for the "service" of keeping your site operational for a specific period (usually 12 months at a time). Our Fees are NOT for the creation of web pages that you own, but ARE for the services related to operating the site.

The actual data itself (user names, match information, etc.) belongs to you and we will not use, distribute, or make available in any way the data itself without your permission or direction.

Existing Soccer Referee Scheduling Sites

In 1998, a Pacific Northwest soccer organization (EKCSRA) asked us to build a Site. Initially, we developed a Web tool that displayed basic public schedules and information for Soccer Officials and other users

While working with the EKCSRA, we also developed several Internet solutions that solved several communication and scheduling weaknesses between the various operations that service their Clients (Leagues). Additionally, we created a tool that allowed the Soccer Officials to seek assignments, report results, and look for membership information.

With the success of EKCSRA's site, other Soccer Referee Management organizations requested that we do the same thing for them. Each site contains similar functions, but they are all customized to meet each organization's local region requirements.

We now manage and host the following Soccer Referee Management sites (a partial list):

Name	Organization	Location
AYSO San Mateo	San Mateo AYSO	San Mateo, CA
EKCSRA	East King County Soccer Referees Association	Bellevue, WA
EYSA	Eastside Youth Soccer Association	Bellevue, WA
FWSRA	Federal Way Soccer Referees Association	Tacoma, WA
LWYSA	Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association	Kirkland, WA
Misconducts	RidgeStar, Misconduct Services	Bellingham, WA
NCRefs	North Chapter Soccer Referees Association	Everett, WA
NSO	Nothwest Soccer Officials	Renton, WA
PCSRA	Pierce County Soccer Referees Association	Tacoma, WA
Pensra	Peninsula Soccer Referees Association	San Mateo, CA
QuadCo	Quad County Soccer Referees Association	Olympia, WA
SeattleRefs	Seattle Soccer Referee Association	Seattle, WA
SkagitRefs	Skagit Referees Association	Mt. Vernon, WA
SnoKing	Sno-King Referee Group	Edmonds, WA
SpokaneRef	Inland Empire Soccer Referee Association	Spokane, WA
Trias	Trias Soccer Central	Kent, WA

There is a more complete list and graphical presentation of the current Sites on Referees.biz.

How much does the Site cost?

A Referee Management Site fee for a typical Chapter (~150 Referees covering 4,000 - 5,000 Assignments per year) is based on our Operations Service Package (Tier 4), which is $2,625 annually. This fee includes all of the necessary services for designing and implementing the Site, including SQL Tables, Interactive Operations, Graphics conversion, your own domain name, hosting the site and its operations, and much more.

If your Chapter has significantly less or significantly more Referees or Assignments the Fee could be lower or higher, as the actual Service Fee is based upon resources consumed to serivce your Chapter (we call them RSUs).

How do I get started?

If you would like to build a Referee Management Site, review our information on Getting Started. Then, fill out a Service Agreement and we'll get started on your Site!

If you have any questions about our Soccer Referee Management Site, give us a call or Email us at Sales@RidgeStar.com. We'll be happy to help you out. OR, even better, visit our Referees.biz site for an extended description of this type of site and a operational demonstration of how it works!!