Leagues

Who to Get Game Assignments From?

Youth leagues tend to be organized by school district (AYSO) or city area (USYSA). Above that, the youth organizations tend to follow their own structure with USYSA showing its close affiliation to USSF in organizing by county and state borders.

Every league everywhere is always short of referees. So why do we constantly here from referees that they are under utilized? Basically, it is a problem of understanding and communication. There is no central list or directory of referees with their experience and skills. So you as a referee must get to know who is assigning in each particular league and then make them aware of your availability, ability, and contact info.

The style and quality of assignors varies greatly. Some assignors simply want to fill the slots without regard to who they get to fill it. Others are looking to be cautious and only fill games with known entities that are more than qualified for the game level. The best assignors seem to be the most senior referees in the league they are assigning for. This varies greatly across the many types of leagues out there.

There are a few key things to know when dealing with assignors. Get to know the assignor and what their goals and needs are. Make assignors aware of what games you are experienced with. Do not ask or accept games that are above your skill level. When you want to move up to more skilled games, tell the assignor this and ask to be assigned with more senior officials for the first few games. And key to it all, do not back out of game assignments. Otherwise you will be dropped from their list. So only make yourself available to a few leagues at a time and be flexible and forthright about your availability. If you have not found a mentor as a referee yet, do so and let them lead you into your next level or league.

National:
Multi-state		State:
Region: County 		City / School District
AYSO :
Section 2 :		Area A:
Northern Santa Clara County


Area J:
San Jose and Southern Santa Clara County		Atherton (109)
East Palo Alto (1149)
East Menlo Park (1149)
La Honda (25)
Los Altos, LA Hills (43)
Menlo Park (109)


Mountain View (45)
Palo Alto (26)
Portola Valley (25)
Sunnyvale (44)
Union City (1433)
Woodside (25)


U19-U15 Area Play (Area 2A/2J)


Cupertino (35)
Saratoga (27)
West San Jose (64)
Area N,/a>:
San Mateo County




Pacific Coast Spring Soccer League PCSSL (formerly the AY/CY Spring League)




Complete listing no longer available, find a region here
Redwood City (1,)
San Mateo(36)
USYSA:

Region IV:		California North
(CYSA-N):

District 2






See here for a more complete listing of State associations. 		League 3: Redwood Junior


Clubs:
Palo Alto, Stanford, Union,
Alpine / Menlo Park, Juventus (RC)


League 5: Foothill Youth Soccer League (FYSL)


Clubs:
Sunnyvale Alliance,
Mountain View / Los Altos (MVLA)


League 18: De Anza Youth Soccer League


Clubs:
De Anza Force


See here for a complete listing of CYSA-N District 2 Leagues
US Club
Soccer:		Soccer: Region J: San Francisco Bay Area
USLSuper-Y LeagueSanta Clara Sporting Ruckus

Generally requires USSF Grade 7 or higher.