"Effective September 1, 1997 any USA based referee must be certified through the training and certification program before he or she can be assigned by the USARFU or its member unions to any USA sanctioned match."
The phrase "USA sanctioned match" refers to any match that could lead to a National Championship. There is no grandfathering - if Kevin Hanley and Ed Sorenson have to take this exam, then so do you.
New England Referees' Society is working to ensure that all our referees obtain certification prior to this deadline. We will be holding Referee Schools throughout the area between March 8th and September 1st, and explaining to our referees that certification is absolutely required for any referee that wishes to referee any of the following league games or play-offs :
In order to be certified to grade I, you only need to be able to read the Lawbook, and attend a one-day Referee School. There is also a cost of $60 for materials provided by USARFU. This expense is refundable to active Society members.
To clarify what is involved in grade I certification - the one-day referee school will teach basics of refereeing - philosophy and mechanics - and the test is a take-home open book test designed to make you read the Lawbook. You must also be CIPP-compliant (application forms should be provided at the Referee School....)
Training of the trainers will be taking place in Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, and Worcester, MA. Oooh, I'm glad I get to go to sunny Worcester.
We will be publicizing the dates and locations of Referee Schools as soon as we know them.