About Your ARA

 

Hello everyone, I'm Jenelle Hamilton and I am very excited to be the Area Referee Administrator (ARA) for Area 10/S for 2023 and beyond.

While I only played soccer two years in grade school (Region 677), I had the pleasure of watching my daughter play soccer for 12 years after joining AYSO at the age of 5.  I escaped the realm of AYSO volunteerism until she joined a tournament team, at which point I finally raised my hand and became a regional referee.

I almost got through the entire tournament season without centering a game - but then the time came.  Top Gun - a tournament just outside of San Diego during Memorial Day weekend.  I had to center 4 12UB matches and everything took a turn after that.  I'll be the first to admit that the first game was rough - no, it was more than rough.  I was just happy to be still alive.  I'm not even sure how we got through that game, but we did.  

Now, 6ish years later, I'm an AYSO national referee candidate, and have plenty of experience refereeing, including recreational games ages 6-adult, matches for club teams, high school, and indoor soccer.  I am an AYSO instructor for regional and intermediate referees and look forward to expanding that to advanced courses this summer.  I am also a referee assessor with the task of assessing advanced referee candidates on their 14U matches.

Having prior service as the Child and Volunteer Protection Advocate (CVPA) for Region 46, I look forward to using my experience as a referee and board member to support our Area 10/S regions with their referee programs.  I am looking forward to administering a very promising upper (16U & 19U) division full of qualified referees - with a good handful of brand new national Referee candidates throughout our Area.

My goals for 2023/24 are to increase the number of referees (15% target) seeking advancement to intermediate and advanced - specifically those who have held regional and intermediate badges for way too long.  In addition, I would like to see a 100% participation rate of all intermediate, advanced, and national referees in the new Certified Referee Mentor program.  In addition, each region should have a designated and dedicated Regional Referee Administrator (RRA) and at least two referee instructors capable of hosting regional referee courses.  

Goals for 2024/25 will expand on the 2023 mission with an increase on referee advancement, in addition to an expected increase in referee instructors and assessors per region.

To support these goals, I have begun my ARA blog - which will focus on training opportunities, tips for studying and passing the referee exams, and highlights of our referee volunteers.

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Other fun information about me:

I hold and Associates degree and Bachelor's degree in Administration of Justice from College of the Canyons and Brandman University, respectively.  In addition, I did graduate studies for Public Administration at California State University, Northridge.  

This summer, I am celebrating 20 years of employment with the City of Los Angeles. 

I am a retired international sport competitor.  Can you guess the sport that I participated in for 10 years??  (Hint - you may be able to Google it)

I am a proud mom of a now 18 year old daughter, who will be venturing off to university in the fall of  2023 to study chemical engineering.

I LOVE to travel, especially internationally.  If you see me around the pitch, tell me your travel stories!