POLICIES

Referee
    Abuse of Game Official
    Inclement Weather
    Referee Fees
    Referee Scheduling
    Referee Uniforms
    Reimbursement of Fees

ABUSE OF A GAME OFFICIAL

1. The Dearborn Soccer Club does not tolerate abuse of a game official.
2. The coach is responsible for his or her own conduct and the conduct of the team's spectators. If a coach or spectator verbally abuses a referee, generally the referee will stop the game until the coach is under control or the coach gets the spectator under control. In the referee's judgment, the coach may be carded. A red card or a second yellow card will eject the coach from the game at hand and will suspend the coach from a number of future games in accordance with the rules of the applicable league. In that situation, the game will not resume until the coach has left the field.
3. Under no circumstances is a youth referee to approach a coach or spectator who is out of control. If a youth referee chooses to card a coach or spectator, the youth referee is to stand on the other side of the field from the coach or spectator. If a youth referee elects to speak to the visiting coach in this situation, the youth referee is not to approach the visiting coach without the home coach. The home coach is expected to support and assist a youth referee in the completion of his or her responsibilities.
4. Under no circumstances is an adult coach, parent or spectator to touch a youth referee, his or her clothing, or something in his or her hand or otherwise associated with the youth referee's person. This includes friendly gestures, such as a pat on the back for a job well done. Other than required duties such as the completion of the game report, no coach, parent or spectator should have reason to approach a youth referee and doing so is strongly discouraged. Touching or approaching a youth referee may give rise to discipline.
5. The safety of the game official is of primary importance to the Dearborn Soccer Club. If at any time the referee feels his or her safety is being threatened, the referee is to abandon the game.
6. All instances of abuse of a game official or other matters pertaining to this policy are to be reported to the Disciplinary Committee of the Dearborn Soccer Club. The Disciplinary Committee will refer matters involving referee abuse to the State Referee Committee in accordance with the guidelines of the Michigan State Youth Soccer Association board, may notify outside agencies such as the police, and may impose its own sanctions on coaches and/or parents up to and including removal of coach or parent and child from the Club in accordance with the Disciplinary Policy.

INCLEMENT WEATHER

1. The games will be played in all types of weather, except lightning. Teams must show up ready to play.
2. At the first sign of lightning, the referee will stop the game and vacate the field. There must be a 15-minute period of no lightning for the game to be restarted. Thunder will be indicative of lightning.
3. If a travel game cannot be restarted after 30 minutes, the game will be terminated and will be rescheduled. If the game is the last game of the day, the referee may, in his or her discretion, wait longer than 30 minutes to avoid the necessity of rescheduling the game.
4. An in-house game is abandoned at the first sign of lightning and will not be rescheduled.
5. In the case of a game called by lightning, referees are paid in accordance with Section 3 of policy "Referee Fees."

REFEREE FEES

1. Referees will be paid in accordance with the fee schedule table found on the referee page at www.dearbornsoccer.org or, in the event of a Michigan State Premier Soccer Program game, on the www.mspsl.org site.
   
2. The Referee Schedule is posted on the website and is generally maintained daily. This schedule supercedes all other written or oral schedules. A referee who reports for a game contrary to the Referee Schedule will not be paid if he or she cannot be worked.
3. If a referee reports for a game as scheduled on the Referee Schedule, but the game is not played due to error on the part of the coach(es), error on the part of the referee assignor, or lightning and the game is not started, the referee is paid one-half of the referee fee, except in the case of a Michigan State Premier Soccer Program game in which the referee will always be paid the full fee. If a game is started before being called for lightning, the referee will be paid the full fee. Overpayment made to the referee under this section must be returned to the referee assignor.

SCHEDULING

1. Referee scheduling for the Dearborn Soccer Club (the "Club" or "DSC") will be performed by a certified referee assignor.
2. The Referee Schedule is posted on the website and is generally maintained daily. This schedule supercedes all other written or oral schedules. Referees will be held accountable for those games on the Referee Schedule.
3. If a referee needs to cancel or change a game, the referee assignor must be notified to make the reassignment. If a situation arises on the field where a substitution must be made, an attempt to reach the assignor must be made from the field. If the assignor cannot be reached, the assignor must be informed of the substitution as soon as possible.
4. Adherence to this policy is a liability issue for the Club. A referee who fails to follow the call-off procedure outlined in Section 3 may be removed from the referee schedule at the discretion of the referee assignor.

REFEREE UNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT

1. The referee uniform consists of a referee shirt with current year patch (yellow, black, blue and red), referee or black shorts, black referee socks with three white stripes and black shoes or black soccer shoes. The Club uses the yellow shirt as primary as fewer teams and goalies have color conflicts with the yellow. The black, blue and the red shirts are used in the case of color conflicts.
2. In the case of inclement weather, the referee may wear a black sweatshirt under the referee shirt and black pants over the shorts. The referee shorts and referee socks must be worn under the black pants. If a baseball cap for sun or knitted cap for warmth is worn, it must be black and be free of logos. Black gloves are acceptable. In the case of rain, a black poncho may be worn over the referee uniform.
3. The referee is required to bring all equipment to each game, whether assigned to a center position or not, as last minute reassignments might be necessary at the field. Equipment consists of flags, whistle, watch, coin, pen and paper.
4. The uniform requirements will be strictly enforced. In the case of repeated violations, the referee will be taken off the schedule at the discretion of the Referee Assignor.

REIMBURSEMENT OF REFEREE CERTIFICATION/RECERTIFICATION FEES

1. The Dearborn Soccer Club (the "Club" or "DSC") will reimburse referee certification/recertification fees up to $30.00 annually to referees who work a minimum of ten games for the Club. For purposes of the reimbursement, these games may be accumulated over the Spring and Fall seasons of one calendar year.
2. If the referee works for multiple soccer clubs offering this reimbursement, the DSC will prorate the reimbursement with other clubs. If the referee has already received a full reimbursement from another club or clubs and subsequently become eligible for reimbursement from the DSC, the DSC will make payment to the other club or clubs for its share of the pro-ration.
3. It is the responsibility of the referee to notify the DSC referee scheduler if he or she is working for other clubs where pro-ration of the reimbursement might be necessary. If the referee fails to do so, and an overpayment results, the referee may be barred from further participation in the DSC reimbursement program at the discretion of the referee scheduler.