Region 42 will again have a referee mentoring program this season. It will be comprised of a coordinator (Bill Seixas – Director of Referee Assessment) and a group of experienced referees (Intermediate, Advanced and National Referees/Candidates) who will work with new and existing referees to provide positive feedback to improve their refereeing skills and confidence.

The program is intended for new and existing Basic (Regional) Referees who want to improve their refereeing skills, along with Intermediate or Advanced Referee Candidates who are working toward their Intermediate or Advanced Certifications.

What are the benefits of using a mentor? For new and existing Basic (Regional) Referees, a mentor can give you support during those first few U10 games early in the season! They also help to reinforce your good practices and provide friendly feedback for areas that could use improvement throughout the season. And, a mentor provides a "live person" to ask all the questions that invariably come up after a game (as opposed to trying to look things up later in the Rules or the class books or online).

For Intermediate Referee Candidates, a mentor provides constructive criticism to help you prepare for your observation as well as a sounding board for questions about the nuances of play and refereeing. An experienced mentor can help you take your game to the next level. For Advanced Referee Candidates mentoring assures that you are prepared for your assessment.

Region 42 Referees are encouraged to take advantage of this year’s Mentoring Program in two ways: 1) Sign up as an Assistant Referee in a U10 game where the Referee will be your mentor, or 2) Sign up as Referee or Assistant Referee for any game and request a mentor who will observe your game.

• This season we have a group of experienced referees who will sign up as the referee for U10 games and they will mentor the assistant referees who sign up for those games.
• To take advantage of this opportunity, use the Online Referee Scheduler to sign up as an assistant referee for a U10 game where the referee is one of the people listed below.
• When you arrive for your game, mention to the referee that you would like to be mentored. He or she will answer questions and/or give you pointers and suggestions during the substitution and half breaks and meet with you for a few minutes after the game.
• Here’s the list of referees who will mentor assistant referees during U10 matches: Carol Rowe (crowe), Bill Seixas (wseixas), Chris Davis (cdavis), Graham Rice (grice), Scott Patterson (spatterson).

• Use the Online Referee Scheduler to sign up for a game at least a week prior to the game.
• Put a check in the checkbox to request a mentor.
• Before the game, a member of the mentor team will sign up in the Online Referee Scheduler to mentor you (in some cases the mentor may sign up to AR the game).
• Check the Online Referee Scheduler for your mentor’s assignment (their username will show up in the “M” field in the scheduler).
• Allow an extra fifteen minutes after the game for discussion and feedback from your mentor