What are Team Volunteer Points?
Volunteer points are the keys that unlock your team's ability to play in the post-season playoffs / tournaments. Teams must reach their volunteer point requirement in order to play in post-season matches.
How Many Volunteer Points Does My Team Need?
In order to be allowed to participate in post-season tournaments, each team must accrue:
- U5/U6: 10 points required for Friendship Cup
- U7/U8: 15 points required for Friendship Cup
- Core U10-U14: 20 points required for U10-U14 Commissioner's Cup (playoffs), plus two adult referees capable of officiating your level of play, one must be able to center your level of play.
- Core U16-U19: 20 points required for Area / Section Upper Playoffs, plus two adult referees capable of officiating your level of play, one must be able to center your level of play.
- All EXTRA: 25 points required for SCEDSL Playoff participation, plus multiple adult referees capable of officiating / centering your level of play.
IMPORTANT: Only points accrued in Region 114 matches and events count towards your point total. (Officiating outside of Region 114 does not accrue points for Region 114.)
What are points used for?
Teams need to reach their volunteer point threshold, and meet referee requirements (U7 and up) to participate in the post season Cups/Playoffs.
U5-U8 Friendship Cup
This is a friendly round-robin tournament (no points are kept and there are no wins/losses). It is a fun party/tournament atmosphere -- free pizza for the players and medals for every participating kid. Many teams make this their year-end party because trophies and yearbooks are distributed the same day.
U5-U8 teams teams that have reached the volunteer point threshold -- 10 points in U5/U6, and 15 points U7/U8-- are invited to participate in the Friendship Cup. In addition to reaching the point threshold, U7-U8 teams also need at least one referee. A youth referee who has centered at least 5 U7/U8 matches is acceptable. Visit our Friendship Cup page to learn more.
U10-U14 Commissioner's Cup
For U10-14, the Commissioner's Cup is also the Region 114 Playoffs. However, standings don't matter. Only teams who have reached their volunteer point threshold -- 20 points -- and who have two adult referees capable of refereeing their own level of play (with one being able to center), will be invited to advance to the Commissioner's Cup at season end. The Cup winner of each division goes on to represent Region 114 in AYSO Area playoffs against other regions, and possibly on to Section Playoffs, and finally Western State Championships. Visit our Commissioner's Cup page to learn more.
IMPORTANT! Teams that reach the required Team Volunteer Point threshold, and who are otherwise in good standing with the region, will receive an automatic invitation to the post season cups. However, in order to balance brackets, we will sometimes invite teams who have points but have not reached the threshold. Every point counts, even if you won't reach the threshold! Regardless of points, all U10-U14 teams must have two adult referees capable of officiating their level of play (with one being able to center their own level of play).
How Do I check My Team's Volunteer Point Total?
View your team on the Region 114 Matchtrak.com page. The bottom of the page shows your points total.
How are Volunteer Points Earned?
Volunteer points are earned by:
- Refereeing AYSO U10 - U19 for adult referees, and U7-U8 for youth referees. You may referee either as a center referee or assistant referee. You must be an AYSO certified referee. There is no limit to the number of referee points an individual may accrue on behalf of a team. However, only games refereed in Region 114 will be counted towards your point total.
- Field Lining points are earned by marking playing fields with painted lines. This takes place Friday afternoons at 4pm before games are played. A TEAM may accrue a maximum of FOUR field lining points. Please sign-up using the Sign-Up Link listed on this page.
- Region 114 Referee Tent points are earned by staffing the Tent on Saturdays during the regular Fall season. This at Heartwell near the container. Shifts are 2 hours long. A TEAM may accrue a maximum of FOUR tent points. Please sign-up using the Sign-Up Link listed on this page.
- Silent Saturday Sucker Distribution points are earned by helping us distribute suckers on Silent Saturday. This takes one Saturday during the Fall season (usually early October -- this date is determined by Section 11). A TEAM may accrue a maximum of THREE Silent Saturday points. Please sign-up using the Sign-Up Link listed on this page.
Does Volunteer at Opening Day Festival / U5 Jamboree Count?
No, those are assigned shifts that every team is required to cover. Those shifts do not accrue towards a team's volunteer point total.
How Are the Points Assigned To My Team(s)?
Each time you sign up to volunteer in one of these positions, you are asked to select the team for which the points should be accrued. (Such as "Boys 10U Team # 03"). The region uses the identified team to assign points -- so make sure all volunteers on your team know your full team division and number!
Region 114 uses Matchtrak.com for game schedule, referee assignments, and team volunteer point tracking. (Link will be live once the season schedule is ready.) NOTE: All other points (Tent, Field Lining, Silent Saturday sucker distribution, etc.) are manually entered by a volunteer board member, so please be patient as these may take a few days to show in your team's accrued totals.
If you are volunteering on behalf of multiple teams, you may select a different team each time, but a single volunteer point cannot be shared among multiple teams. (Example: if you staff the tent to earn one point, that one point can only be assigned to one team.)
When can I accrue points?
You can accrue points up until the last week of the regular season for your division. (U5-U8 end a week earlier than U10-U14.) If you are close to reaching your threshold but you need to earn points after the regular season ends (such as a U8 team earning points on the final week of U10 play), email the Coach Admin [email protected] to see what can be done.
Referee Points Available Per Match
IMPORTANT: Only points accrued in Region 114 games and events count towards your point total.
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U5 / U6
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N/A*
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N/A*
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U7 / U8 (YOUTH REFS ONLY)
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1.0**
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N/A**
|
|
U9 - U12
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1.5
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1.0
|
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U13 - U19
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2.0
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1.5
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Mentor
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1.0
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1.0
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* U5/U6 games do not have official referees. Coaches/parents referee their own matches; refereeing U5/U6 does not count towards the required volunteer point total.
** U7/U8 games have only one referee per match -- the center referee. There are no Assistant Referees at this level. These matches should be worked by Youth Referees (or newly trained referees.) If you are officiating on behalf of a U10 team, you should start at U10 Assistant Referee (the person with the flag). U10 adult referees should normally not referee U7/U8 matches.
U9-U19: Should have three referees per match: one center referee and two assistant referees (ARs).
No additional points are given for EXTRA™ matches
What doesn't count towards our team's total?
There are some volunteer positions/duties in Region 114 that do not accrue points. This includes being a Head or Assistant Coach, or Team Parent. Also, volunteering at the U5 Jamboree or Opening Day Festival does not accrue volunteer points.
IMPORTANT: Only points accrued in Region 114 games and events count towards your point total. Refereeing games in regions outside of 114 will be excluded/subtracted from your total, even though Matchtrak allows it and shows it as part of your total.
Do youth referee points count towards post-season tournaments / playoffs?
Yes, youth referee points can help your team reach the point threshold. But your team cannot ONLY rely on Youth Referees. All teams must have at least two Adult Referees capable of covering matches at their team's level of play, and one of those must be able to center.
How Do I Sign Up To Volunteer?
If you are interested in becoming an AYSO Referee, please visit our Referee page.
If you would like to sign up for shifts in the Referee Booths, or Field Lining, please see the Volunteer Links on this page.
All the volunteer shift slots are filled. What can I do?
All teams need referees. So even if your team maximizes their volunteer slots, you will still need to referees to reach your point threshold. We have intentionally designed it this way. All teams, regardless of number of volunteer shifts, need referees. (Without referees... games don't get played!)
Volunteer shifts like field lining and tent duty can help inch your team get over the hump. But no matter what, your team NEEDS referees. Having referees are the ONLY way possible your team can reach the threshold for post season tournament/playoffs.
TL;DR: Don't focus on points form volunteer shifts. They are optional, but not requirement. If you can't get any points from volunteer shifts, it just means you need your referees to referee a few more games.