Once a new referee gains a little experience and begins to feel a sense of accomplishment, they can easily become content in their refereeing ability. For some—maybe many—the point where their development slows or even levels off is in fact a comfortable level at which they would like to be performing. However, there are referees that would like to continue to grow and improve their refereeing ability, but if they become settled in what they have accomplished, they do not actively seek out the development that they truly desire. The purpose of the mentor program is to provide an avenue where those referees that seek continual improvement of their refereeing ability may develop more rapidly than they would on their own.

That avenue will be an organized yet informal way for experienced referees to provide advice, set an example, give critiques, answer questions, explain law interpretations, encourage and motivate less experienced referees. In the mentor program, referees will improve their abilities at the field in a 1-on-1 or 1-on-2 setting, during and between games that they work with mentors or from discussions based on observations from a mentor.

Here is how it will work:

1. Two rosters will be compiled: one for mentors, one for mentees. Each roster will include information like where and when each participant is available—some mentors will have a wider range of availability to do games with a mentee and/or travel across town. For the mentees, it is not expected that they change anything about where and when they referee—the mentoring will come to them.
2. From the lists, the mentor program committee will match a mentor with a mentee or two, and they will be assigned to work games together. The interactions from this point are completely informal and up to the referees themselves.
3. Feedback will be crucial to tweaking the system and maximizing the benefit to all participants. The most specific feedback will come from the mentors who will be asked to tell us how their interaction went and what development their counterpart will need and want as they continue to grow. Other useful feedback may come from mentees and/or assignors.
4. As the process is repeated from weekend to weekend, the rosters will grow and change, and mentees may see several different mentors and vice-versa. Hopefully this will help the younger referees develop more rapidly and strengthen their desire to continually improve as a referee.