HSSOA is now recruiting returning and new officials for the 2023/23 school soccer season. Games will run from the start of December 2023 to the end of May 2024.

We need to beat last year’s total of 293 active officials!

To qualify you need to follow this process:

Join TASO, www.TASO.org, the state governing body for soccer officials. You pay a fee, undertake training and pass an exam. You can join now, and the training and exam is available from mid-August. Nominate Houston as your home chapter. You have to complete the training and exam to be able to officiate.

We will then contact you. We charge a membership fee, which for 2023/24 is $60. However, if you join before December 1st, there is a $5 discount, so $55. This is equivalent to less than one games average pay. This covers most HSSOA operating costs, including a planned increase in development and mentoring. New or U21 members receive a 50% discount, so $27.50 before December 1st.

Currently 145 past members have credit that can be used towards this season’s payment. There are 44 members who owe money, this must be paid in full before or as part of rejoining. See the Member Balances page for more information.

In addition, we charge an assigning fee, $5 per game. We require an initial $90 in credit to cover your first 18 games and then you top that up throughout the season.

The $5 fee is increasing by 50 cents. This will fund a 25 cent per game increase for our assignors plus our software costs. This is the first increase for several years and comes as referee pay is increasing by $10 per game. Referees will keep 93% of their average pay.