Capital Area Soccer Referee Association  Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

THE NEW UNIFORM DESIGN
Your question:
I know this is probably the wrong venue for this question -- however, maybe you could forward this and post this somewhere for us. What is the deployment plan for the new uniforms? What will be the primary color? How long will the transition period be?

USSF answer (December 7, 2007):
The new uniforms feature a redesigned shirt and socks, as well as a new color option with green being added to the array of gold, red, blue and the traditional black. Referees will have three options on the type of sock they will wear during competitions. The new sock is embroidered with "U.S. Soccer Referee" on the foot of the sock, but referees are also permitted to wear the three white-stripe sock or the black sock with the old U.S. Soccer Referee Department logo, as both are still USSF-approved.

In the future, OSI will only sell the new uniforms, but the old striping pattern is still USSF-approved and acceptable to wear during games. In youth and adult amateur games, it is also acceptable for the crew to wear a combination of new and old uniforms. Referees are encouraged to purchase the new uniform when replacing their old version as the updated stripe pattern will be become the official referee uniforms of U.S. Soccer. However, there is no need to buy new uniforms until the old ones wear out.

As to primary color, see page 34 of the USSF Referee Administrative Handbook. Gold is listed as the primary color so that referees who buy only one jersey know what color to purchase. The other colors, red, blue, black, and green are simply alternative colors. However, there is no requirement that referees must wear the gold jersey for every game in preference to all the others. If all officials have other jerseys and all can wear the same color and not be in conflict with the teams, they may wear other colors.

NEW UNIFORMS 2
Your question:
In trying to give parents of our young referees some ideas for Christmas, I was going to offer the suggestion of a second color jersey.

Yellow is "primary" but in your opinion (or perhaps it's written somewhere), what is the succession of other colors a referee should have. I've understood it to be black, then red, then blue (and, now I see in Official Sports, the color green -- as they wore on the MLS finals).

USSF answer (December 7, 2007):
There is no order of succession. Referees are required to have the gold jersey (see below), but are free to wear whichever shirt they like, provided (1) it does not cause a color conflict with one of the teams and (2) each member of the crew wears the same color and sleeve length. It is perhaps best to see which colors most referees in your area have. That would prove more economical in the long run.

For those who delve further: The order given in the Referee Administrative Handbook (RAH) is solely one of convenience; it reflects the order in which the new jerseys were introduced, and has no other, more significant meaning. "Primary" in the RAH means only that the gold jersey is one that every referee must have, as it is least likely to conflict with player jerseys. It does not mean that referees must wear it in preference to the other colors.

To Read the USSF Announcement about the uniforms click here.