A grassroots referee can submit to upgrade to a regional referee once the following conditions are met:

  1. Minimum age of 18 years old
  2. Minimum of three years as a Grassroots Referee
  3. Officiate a minimum of 25 games as a referee and 15 games as an assistant referee at the amateur adult level

The following steps should be followed once the referee has met all of the above requirements.

  1. Compile a game count in an Excel spreadsheet that includes game date, location, league, teams and officiating crew
  2. Send an email to the referee’s Area Referee Administrator (ARA) requesting an upgrade and attach the game count.  The ARA will then send the request to the State Referee Administrator (SRA)
  3. The SRA will verify the game count and notify the official of the approval to enter the upgrade process.
  4. Upon approval of the SRA, the official will be sent an invitation to register for the Regional Referee Upgrade course in the US Soccer Learning Center. Here, the official will complete the payment of $300 which will cover South Carolina and US Soccer registration fees as well as the fees for three (3) assessments.
  5. Once the official completes registration, the required online modules from US Soccer will be completed in the Learning Center.
  6. Following the completion of the online modules, a physical fitness test will be scheduled.
  7. Once the online modules and fitness test are successfully completed, the official will move onto the assessment portion. The official will need to notify the State Director of Assessment (SDA) when they are assigned to a qualifying match. Upgrading officials are required to complete three assessments as a referee. Two (2) are required at the adult amateur level and one (1) may be completed at the U19 level. All three may be done at the adult amateur level if the official chooses.
  8. Once the required three assessments have been passed, the SDA will notify the SRA that requirements have been completed.
  9. The SRA will notify the State Director of Instruction (SDI) to process the new registration through US Soccer.

All requirements must be completed within a 12-month period.  The 12-month period starts on the day the SRA notifies the referee of upgrade process approval.