You are welcome to be the center referee for your own 8U child's team as often as you like. If you are the team referee for your 8U child's team, you are required to be the center referee for that team's home games (where the team is listed first on the sign-up schedule) unless someone else signs up first.
You are welcome to be an assistant referee for you own child's regular season game, as often as you like, as long as you are qualified (generally: Regional for 10U and 12U, Intermediate for 14U, Advanced for 16U and up). All the pool referees for a single 10U or 12U team must referee 8 games in total to qualify that team for the Hillsborough Cup.
We need some referee volunteers with 10U and 12U children to center some 10U and 12U games, i.e., not AR for ONLY their own children's games.
Suggestions:
1. If your child or children happen to have all morning or all afternoon games some Saturday, sign-up to center the opposite: last or first game of the day, respectively. Then you can still be fully available to shuttle and spectate at your own children's games that day.
2. If you're comfortable doing so with your 10U or 12U player, have them bring a book or a tablet and sit in a folding chair on the parent side for the game before or after their own game. You can center that before/after game.
If there are insufficient assistant referees at the field 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time, the referee is responsible for recruiting one or two "club linesman" from spectators at the field. A “club linesman,” a person recruited from the “club/team,” helps the referee by indicating when the ball has passed out of play over a touchline or goal line by simply raising the flag straight up (best if the “club linesman” positions themselves at the corner flag to be able to see both the touchline and goal line). The referee will be solely responsible for making all other decisions when they are working with a “club linesman.” The referee should provide instructions to the “club linesman” and make sure they are thanked for their support.
A spectator who is a trained AYSO referee may assume the role of assistant referee if they can change into their uniform and AYSO badge, otherwise they must serve as a "club linesman".
If there is no referee at the field 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time the priority is:
1. have an assistant referee who is not a parent of a player in the match assume the referee position,
2. have an assistant referee who is a parent of a player in the match assume the referee position,
3. terminate the match for lack of a referee.
In all three cases, please document which option took place on the match report and email the Referee Administrator as well. If an assistant referee assumes the role of referee, they must recruit a Club Lineman. Every match, 10U and up, must have 3 officials (including Club Linesman) at all times.
For 8U only, if there is no referee at the field 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time the priority is:
1. the team referee for the home team is required to referee that match,
2. any badged AYSO referee at the field may referee that match,
3. any of the coaches with teams playing at that match may referee that match; preferably, from a team with multiple coaches present.