USA Lacrosse Certification

This page details the steps every official must take in order to complete your USA Lacrosse certification. Officials who are between 15 and 18 years old and still in high school MUST complete USAL certification in order to work. 

Adults (over 18 and high school graduates) are encouraged to complete their USA Lacrosse certification as that will be the only insurance other than their personal insurance when they work non-GHSA games. In addition, many summer and fall tournaments now require officials have USA Lacrosse certification.

Classes for youth officials are ONLY held in late August/Early September.

Adults are trained in the Fall and in January prior to the Spring high school season.

Recertification information is at the end of this page. All officials MUST recertify every year prior to the start of the Spring season.

It is VERY IMPORTANT that you read ALL of this information carefully. 

USA Lacrosse Membership

All youth officials must be at least 15 and no more than 18 by the time classes begin and may not graduated from high school.

All youth officials MUST be USA Lacrosse members.

Adults who plan to do GHSA games who are not USAL members are encouraged, but not required to join.  Adults who only want to work youth games MUST be USAL members. 

Non-USA Lacrosse Adult Members

Adult officials (18+ and graduated from high school) who are not USAL members must take the Fall GLOA Rules Exam and pass with an 85 or higher. All Adult officials who work GHSA games are required to take the GHSA clinic and test in January prior to the Spring season.

Five Steps to Completing Certification

To become a certified USA lacrosse Official you must complete ALL five (5) of these requirements.

Please click the links to learn more about each step.

1. 1. Register with USA Lacrosse. Many of the problems that arise are a result of expired or linked memberships. If there is a problem you will need to call the US Lacrosse members services at (410) 235-6882, ext. #102 or email [email protected]. Do not use your parent’s email address!  
      
      
   2. Complete the “Boys’ Lacrosse Rules Online Course” and the “Boys Officials Officials Annual Professional Development” the USA Lacrosse Learning Platform. This course is a brief introduction to the rules and officiating. THIS IS NOT THE RULES TEST. 
      
      
   3. Attend the five ONLINE class sessions with GLOA.  Please plan to arrive a few minutes early to get settled and checked in. Zoom links will be emailed to you after you have registered and completed payment.  More information will be sent out once you have registered.  If you are unable to do so or have a conflict we will work with you to schedule a game on another date. However, If you can’t complete this field training this fall you start the process over. 
      
      
   4. Pass BOTH the Boys High School and Youth Tests (90% or higher). These must be taken online through USA Lacrosse! Please wait to take these AFTER you have your rule book and have taken the class.
      
      
   5. Complete Field Training Day. You MUST be in full uniform for these games. Participants must attend one (1) of the two shifts on scheduled date and will be able to sign up for their shift once they have completed all the three zoom sessions and all USA Lacrosse requirements. 

Issues Accessing USA Lacrosse Site

• If there is an issue logging in or they are asking you to pay, you need to call USA Lacrosse member services. 
• Please complete on a laptop or desktop computer. You may experience technical issues on tablet or mobile browsers.

USA Lacrosse Member Services

Accessing USA Lacrosse Tests and Courses

Log in to your USA Lacrosse account:

• • You must use the email you have registered with your USA Lacrosse account.
  • You CANNOT your parents email!
  • If you log in and your parent or guardians name appears, DO NOT continue, we cannot transfer tests etc to your name.  If you take it under your parents name you will need to retake it. 
  • DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!

Once logged in, select the Red Tab in the upper right of the page called: My Account.

Once in your account, select the My Transcript button to the right of your profile picture. 

Select 2024 Boys Officials Certification if you are a new official or Boys Officials Annual Certification to renew.       

Click on the red text and you will see the requirement you need to complete.

Affiliations and Roles

Log in to your USA Lacrosse account and select My Account. 

Then Click View/Edit Profile. Scroll down until you see Lacrosse Involvement. 

Select official for involvment and men’s/boy’s for game type. 

Scroll down and click SAVE.

Click the BACK button to return to the main profile page.

Then click Affiliations.

You want to select GA as your state and begin typing Georgia Lacrosse Officials Association and click + ADD button.

Payment for new Referee Training

The cost of the Fall training is $65.00.

All participants will receive an NFHS Rule Book, USAL Mechanics Manual, a copy of the GLOA Game Guide, GLOA shirt, laminated rookie pregame, Fox 40 Finger Whistle, and a penalty flag.

At the end of the registration form for each class, you will be prompted with a venmo QR code.  

Registration is NOT complete until payment has processed. 

If you are having difficulty completing payment, please contact Greg Hite at [email protected].

Communication Policy 

Becoming an official is a serious undertaking.  Your child will be responsible for maintaining a safe, fair and fun contest ever time they officiate. They are in charge, not the coaches or the parents.  When they join a league or association, they will be responsible for regularly communicating with assignors, league and team administrators, and fellow officials.

Officials MUST have their own email address.

Parents can not share an email address with their child. 

If you have a question, YOUR CHILD should be the one to contact me. 

Uniform

GLOA Youth Shirt

Getting Games

As we stated in class USA Lacrosse DOES NOT assign games.

 

In order to get games, you need to join a league or association. 

 

Youth ONLY registration.

The only men’s lacrosse officials association in Georgia is the Georgia Lacrosse Officials Association (GLOA), that is the group that all GHSA officials are members of.  The group that ran your training was the GLOA. 

 

If you can’t drive, may also contact your local youth team or your high school coach to see how they assign officials; it may through GLOA or the league may assign officials themselves. 

 

Arbiter

 

Most leagues (but not all) use an online assigning system called ArbiterSports (think of it as Signup Genius on steroids).

 

Once your application has been approved by your league or association, they will send you an email inviting you to their arbiter account.