Referees: a directory, a referee account, and games that find their own ref

Referees now live in the platform. Clubs keep a referee directory, assign referees when they create a game, and referees sign in to a page that is just their games — including open games they can claim themselves.

A referee directory

Who: club admins. Where: People → Referees.

Add a referee with their name, email, phone, grade (Grassroots, Regional, National, Professional, the assistant-referee grades, or the older numeric scale), certification and notes. Archive a referee who has moved on and restore them later. Invite to portal gives them a referee account.

A referee who works with more than one club is one person: if their email already has an account, your club links to it instead of creating a second one.

Assign referees when you create a game

Who: club admins and the coaches of a team on the game. Where: the game’s create form, and later the game’s event modal.

Pick referees from the directory as you create the game, with a role for each (center, assistant, fourth). Set a minimum referee grade for the game, and choose whether referees can claim it themselves (on by default). The modal shows who is assigned, with their grade, and warns you if you place someone below the minimum or on a game that overlaps another of theirs.

“Needs ref”

Any upcoming game without a center referee shows a Needs ref chip on the calendar, the team schedule and the game itself, for coaches and admins. Families do not see it.

The referee’s own page

Who: anyone with a referee account. Where: they sign in and land on their games.

• Clubs they referee for, as a filter.
• Open games: upcoming games in those clubs that still need a referee and that their grade qualifies for. Take this game claims it. Games that clash with one they already have are greyed out with the reason.
• My games: everything they are assigned to, across every club, upcoming first. A game they claimed can be released while it is still upcoming; a game the club assigned is the club’s to change.
• Their contact card, editable.

Referee feedback, joined up

Coaches giving feedback on a referee now pick from the directory, so the admin summary groups by the referee rather than by how their name was typed.