Mississippi Soccer Association

MSA Referees, Assignors, Assessors and Instructors are licensed through United States Soccer Federation (USSF) annually. Mississippi uses Officials Management System (OMS) to register referees through USSF. Mississippi uses GameOfficials for assigning MSA Tournaments such as the District and State Cups.

We are currently loading Entry Level and Recertification Clinics. Recertification clinics will be a blend of Online Sessions and a Live Zoom meeting session. All online sessions must be successfully completed THREE DAYS PRIOR in order to become certified.

Entry Level Courses will be at least 5 hours of Online Lessons (depends on your age) and a 3 hour In-Person Field Training session. The Online Lessons MUST be completed at least 3 days prior to the field training course date or OMS will not allow you to register for the Field Training. 

NOT A REFEREE?            WANT TO BECOME ONE?

HOW TO BECOME A GRASSROOTS REFEREE

Here is Quick Overview of the Entry Level Process in the OMS System.

To create a profile in OMS and register for the Online Lessons go to OMS (see link below) and  follow these helpful INSTRUCTIONS .

To begin taking the Online Lessons after you create your profile and register for you the Online Lessons follow these INSTRUCTIONS.

United States Soccer Federation (US Soccer), mandates that soccer referees must be at least 13 years of age at the time they register. No State Referee Committee or State Association has discretion in changing this.

Below are the steps to becoming a new referee:

  1. Create a profile in Officials Management Systems (OMS):
    1. Go to https://mississippi.omgtsys.com/
    2. Click on “New Member Registration” if you are new or “Member Sign In” if you are already a referee.
    3. You will be directed to a page to fill out your personal information. Please use your LEGAL name (i.e. no nicknames), your current mailing address, and an email address that will be checked often. Your primary email address will be your username and you can set your password to be anything you want (at least 6 characters, only numbers and letters). Your primary email address CANNOT be one that is already used by someone in the OMS system.
    4. You may be prompted to complete a background check acknowledgement. This is a legal requirement for the system but is NOT an actual background check. You will need to complete a background check (if 18+) as one of your assignments within your course.
    5. If you wish to register for a clinic at this time, skip to 3C (below). If not, select the Return to Member Home Page button.
  2. From your Member Home Page, utilize the “I want to…” drop-down at the top of the page. Select “Register for Clinic or Fitness Test”. Registration for a specific clinic will close THREE days before the clinic occurs. You will need to register for the next available course if you miss the three-day window.
  3. The following screens will guide you through the three steps involved in the registration process
    1. The first screen will ask you to verify or update your personal information.
    2. The next screen will ask you to agree to a background check. If you are under 18, no background check will be obtained.
    3. Next, you will be asked if you have ever been convicted of a felony, violent crime, crime against a person, or fraud. You MUST answer this question, as mandated by US Soccer. It will also ask you what you are registering as (CHOOSE REFEREE). Lastly, it will ask you your registration type (CHOOSE NEW REGISTRATION) and your registration level (CHOOSE GRASSROOTS REFEREE).
    4. You will then move to the second page, which will be where you can reserve a clinic. This page will display a list of clinics available for you (specific to your certification level). You can search for a specific region or throughout the entire state using the drop-down menu to see courses. Once you select a course, click on the “Reserve Clinic” button, and then click “Continue to Next Step”.
    5. You will then be directed to the next page – Checkout to Pay the Associated Fees. Here you will see the breakdown of the course fees. Referee Program. You MUST pay the ENTIRE fee at once. After confirming the total, click “Complete Requests and Pay Fees”. If you choose to pay by a check you will be charged an additional $10 and you will not be considered certified and receive your badge until the check has been received by the Mississippi State Referee Association.
    6. After clicking the “Complete Requests and Pay Fees”, a box will appear at the bottom of the page with billing information. Here you will fill out the payment information to finalize your registration. Once the payment is processed, you will receive an email receipt to your primary email address on file.
  4. Once you have registered for a course, you will see your registered clinic in a new box on your Member Home Page. Select Online Lessons next to your clinic to see all of the assignments that need to be completed BEFORE attending the clinic. You have until NOON two days before a Field Session (Entry Level) or your Recertification clinic date to complete your assignments. If they are not completed, you will not be allowed to attend the clinic. The assignments are as follows:
    1. For some of these assignments, you will be directed to go to the US Soccer Learning Center. If you do not already have an account, it is recommended that you use the SAME username and password that you have for OMS. Once you complete an assignment in the Learning Center, you can go back to OMS and the system will update with your completed process.
    2. Background Check – a background check will automatically be performed if you are over 18. This is required by US Soccer.
    3. US Soccer Grassroots Referee Entry Module – you will be directed to the US Soccer Learning Center to complete the module. This module can take about 5 hours which includes and can be taken in multiple sittings. Be sure to close out of the Learning Center if you are not finishing the entire module in one sitting.
    4. Law Changes – there have been some minor changes in the laws. This lesson will briefly review them.
    5. SafeSport – you will be directed to the US Soccer Learning Center to complete SafeSport if you are over 18. The initial certification will take about 2 hours, and each year after, you will need to complete a 30-minute refresher course. If you are under 18, this lesson will automatically be marked as completed.
    6. Intro to Safe and Healthy Playing Environments – you will need to complete this assignment, also within the Learning Center.
    7. Grassroots Certification Quiz – you will need to pass this quiz in order to complete your certification.
  5. Once you have completed all assignments, you are ready to attend your in-person field session. This session is mandatory and you will be onsite to participate. Upon completing the in-person field session session, you will receive your badge and your certification will be finalized.

Email Tim Clements (sra@mssoccer.org) or Bob Thunelius (syra@mssoccer.org) if you have any questions about this process.