Question Number: 31858

Appearance 10/3/2017

RE: Rec Adult

Mark of Cedar Rapids, IA US asks...

In the past year I have started to ref some of my kids games. The standard 'gold' jersey was issued to me when I completed the training. I have since purchased and additional Black/white stripes jersey which I have been wearing. Just this week I had another referee tell me that the black jerseys were only for more advance referees. I haven't found anything online implying this though. Does the color of the jersey align with a certification level?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mark
I believe he is pulling your leg or mistaken as he only sees more senior refs in black
Referees can wear any of the five colours namely yellow replacing gold. – red, green, black and blue.
Obviously one colour will be more dominant so as to help with teams of three having al least one colour shirt to match up.
BTW well done for getting involved in refereeing. The game needs you and is appreciative of your contribution.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

USSF used to state that gold was the primary color, which meant that all referees should have gold. It doesn't mean that gold should always be the first choice of colors. I don't know if that is their current position or not, but it makes sense.

Other colors are used to avoid conflicts with team colors, and there is no priority on which color should be used.

From your question it sounds as if perhaps you are involved with AYSO, being recruited to ref by your kids' teams. AYSO may have some additional guidelines for jersey color use.

But the other colors certainly are not reserved for any particular grade level of refs. Of course if you have assistant referees assigned to the game, you should match colors with them. And as assistants are often lower-experienced refs, they may only have gold. Perhaps this is what your colleague was thinking.