Making It To The MLS

By Joe Guest Director of Refereeing, Canadian Soccer Association

Making it to the MLS – Referee Reviews and Mentoring Program
MLS Referee Policy

The evaluation process of MLS Referees has been in place since the inaugural MLS season. However, the process of evaluation starts much earlier before getting to the MLS level. What follows is a brief description of what a referee goes through before being considered for assignment at the highest professional level in this country:

All referees in MLS are National Referees of the United States Soccer Federation or Canadian International match officials. To become a US National Referee, it usually takes a minimum of officiating for seven years in over 500 games to reach the National Level. Both US Soccer and Canadian officials attend an annual testing session conducted by U.S Soccer in January. At this time, they go through a very intense training session. The referees arrive at camp on Thursday afternoon. The Cooper Physical Fitness test, including a series of 50 and 200 yard sprints, is the first thing on the agenda Friday morning. All National Referees MUST pass this test to be able to perform any duties in MLS (e.g., Referee, Assistant Referee or 4th Official).

The FIFA test is given to all current FIFA personnel and those that are eligible. It is given in two stages, one for the referees and one for the assistants. The test is a series of six sprints by 40 meters do be done at a specified time. For referees it is 6.2 seconds and for assistant referees, it is 6.0 seconds. The second test is a series of interval sprints – 150 meters to be run in 30-35 seconds, with a 50 meter recovery. The assistants run the same test, but their time is 30-40 seconds with the same recovery time. In both cases, they must complete 10 laps. Also new to the referee program in 2007, is that, U.S. Soccer has employed four full-time referees. These individuals will do nothing but referee, train individually, attend training sessions with U.S. Soccer staff and devote most of their time studying the game.

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