Question Number: 20280

Appearance 10/17/2008

RE: Rec. Under 16

D. Storey of Garland, TX U S A asks...

This question is a follow up to question 3565

Who decides which color referee jerseys the officials should wear? Does NTX pass this down to local associations, or do local ref. associations decide? I ask because the green ref. jersey is the new style and I want to know if there is an obligation to buy one? This questions is for a grade 9 assistant ref. who enjoys what she does for the local association rec. league.

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

The organizing body that directs referee policy decides the uniform. The color of the jersey worn in the game is at the sole discretion of the referee.

At the very young levels, it's best to own Yellow, Black, Red, Blue, then Green. In that order. While it's advisible to have all the uniforms, it is typically not expected for grade 9 rec level refs to own all the shirts in all the sleeve lengths...

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The order in which uniforms should be purchased is also a local one. The order they are listed in the Referee Administrative Manual and other USSF documents is the order in which they were introduced. It is not a priority list.

Yellow (or gold, as they like to call it) is the primary color, meaning every ref should have a yellow jersey.

Because blue is the second-newest one, not many refs in my area have one. But because of the colors local clubs use, blue might be the best first-choice alternative. And in my opinion, green would seldom be worn, so I haven't purchased one.

Our referee association does not expect our new referees to get a whole rainbow of colors. We tell the local rec soccer leagues to not use yellow player jerseys to avoid conflicts. Of course, they do it anyway. When the referees get a fair amount of experience - and game fees - they move to the select/travel/premier leagues where they are expected to have alternative colors in case they are needed.