Preparing for Your Course

The online coursework comes before the in-person field session, and you do it on your own — modules, videos, quizzes, and an update on the current Laws of the Game. It’s normal to feel a bit anxious about it. You don’t need to be.

Budget roughly six and a half hours if you’re under 18, about seven and a half if you’re 18 or older (adults have an extra SafeSport module). That’s the total across everything — course modules, the First-Time Referee quiz, a Laws of the Game update, and a module on safe and healthy playing environments. It does not have to happen in one go.

You can start and stop as you need to. Your progress is saved automatically, so a session on the bus and another one after dinner works fine. Nobody is timing you, and there’s no penalty for spreading it across a week.

Try to finish the online coursework before your field session rather than the night before it — the field session assumes you’ve already seen the material, and you’ll get more out of it if you have.

A module won't load or won't let you advance

This is a common technical snag, not a sign you did something wrong. Before contacting anyone, check:

• Every video on the page has played all the way through — some modules won’t advance until it has.
• Every clickable item (stars, hotspots) on the page has been clicked, and every question answered.

If it’s still stuck, try clearing your browser’s cache, switching browsers, or logging in from a different device. If none of that works, contact the Oregon Referee Committee office — they can see what’s happening on their end.

The field session is hands-on: you’ll practice as a player, as a center referee, and as an assistant referee (AR), so dress for moving around outside for a few hours. You do not need a referee kit yet — instructors have said plainly that you will not need a referee jersey for this session.

Wear weather-appropriate clothing you can move in. Check the forecast the night before — instructors have asked candidates to dress for both sun and rain, since Oregon does both. Bring water. Some instructors also suggest snacks. Bring a whistle if you have one. A Fox 40 is the model instructors recommend, but any whistle is fine for your first session. Bring a set of assistant referee flags if you have them. Bring something to write with — a pencil holds up better than a pen if it rains.

Do not wear sandals or open shoes to the field session.

Arrive at least 15 minutes early. Instructors check candidates in before the session starts, and that buffer covers it.

If you don’t yet own a whistle or flags, that’s normal at this stage — say so when you arrive and ask your instructor how to work around it for the day. Buying your own gear, including where to get it and what a full kit costs, is covered in Equipment and where to get it; nothing on this page is what you need for the season, only for this one session.

There are seventeen Laws of the Game. Your course covers all of them. This is just the handful that actually shows up in a first few matches, plus one change recent enough that even experienced referees are still adjusting to it.

• Offside (Law 11) — starts at U9. If you’re working a U10 game, you’re calling it from kickoff.
• Handling (Law 12) — not every ball-to-arm contact is a foul. What counts is more specific than it looks.
• Direct and indirect free kicks (Law 12/13) — an indirect free kick (awarded for things like offside, a double touch, or a verbal offense) can’t be kicked straight into the goal.
• No heading below U11 — players younger than U11 aren’t allowed to head the ball at all.
• Goalkeeper release time (Law 12) — since July 1, 2025, goalkeepers get eight seconds to release the ball after taking control, not six.

No heading below U11 — how to restart

If a player under 11 heads the ball, stop play. Restart with an indirect free kick to the other team from where it happened. If it happened inside the goal area, the restart moves to the goal area line, parallel to the goal line, from the spot of the header.

The eight-second goalkeeper rule

Once a goalkeeper has the ball under control, the clock is running. If they haven’t released it after eight seconds, stop play and award a corner kick to the other team, taken from the corner nearest where the goalkeeper was standing when you stopped play.

Some leagues have referees track the count visibly — a raised hand after three seconds, then a countdown for the last five — so the goalkeeper isn’t caught off guard.

Video walk-throughs before your first whistle

Two minutes each:

• Handling
• Indirect free kicks
• Offside

For the full Laws — all seventeen, in English or Spanish — see the IFAB Laws of the Game or U.S. Soccer’s video series.