# Refze

> Refze is referee scheduling, recruitment, and retention software for youth and school
> sports leagues, schools, and independent assignors. It fills game assignments fast,
> cuts referee no-shows with confirmations and game-day check-ins, and keeps officials
> from quitting through mentoring, retention alerts, and fair assignment.

Refze exists because of the officiating shortage: more than 70% of new officials quit
within three years, and roughly 50,000 officials have left youth sports since 2018.
Most competing tools only fill slots. Refze also measures and improves retention.

## Key facts

- Product: web app and iOS (installable from the browser; no app store required)
- Users: referee assignors, league and club administrators, school athletic directors,
  tournament organizers, and referees/officials
- Referees use Refze free, with one login that works across every league they officiate
- Pricing: two plans. Free ($0) for an independent assignor — up to 25 officials and
  40 games a season, 1 assignor seat, 1 league. Pro is $9.99/month or $99/year (two months
  free) — unlimited officials and games, up to 5 assignor seats, retention automation,
  season analytics, recruitment pipeline, and referee payments with W-9/1099 handling.
  Billed through Stripe; no card required to start on Free
- Live demo requires no signup or login
- Contact: hello@refze.com

## What Refze does

- Season import: paste a schedule from a spreadsheet or email, or upload a CSV;
  columns are auto-detected (date, time, matchup, venue, crew size, fee)
- Smart fill: ranks eligible officials by show rate, availability, grade, crew fit,
  and who needs a game to stay engaged
- One-tap confirmation with automatic escalation of unanswered offers
- Game-day crew chat and check-ins so an assignor knows officials are en route
- Recruitment pipeline: Applied → Certified → Cleared → Shadow game → Active
- Retention radar: flags officials who go idle, had a rough game, or lack a mentor
- Cross-league schedule for referees, with automatic double-booking detection
- Post-game debriefs that feed the retention radar

## Pages

- [Home](https://refze.com/): product overview, how it works, features, pricing, FAQ
- [Referee shortage guide](https://refze.com/referee-shortage/): why officials quit and
  what leagues can do about it, with figures from NASO and NFHS
- [Questions answered](https://refze.com/questions/): long-form Q&A on referee
  scheduling software, reducing no-shows, recruiting, onboarding, retention, and pricing
- [Blog](https://refze.com/blog/): practical writing on officiating, the shortage, no-shows,
  and retention — updated with what the officiating community is discussing
- [Referee Q&A board](https://refze.com/board/): an anonymous board where officials ask and
  answer questions about handling coaches, rules, getting more games, and first-season survival
- [Live demo](https://refze.com/refze-web-app.html): the full app in demo mode

## Common questions

- What is referee scheduling software? A tool that matches qualified officials to games,
  tracking availability and conflicts, sending offers, and collecting confirmations.
- How do I reduce referee no-shows? Require confirmation for every assignment, send
  automatic reminders, use game-day check-ins, and auto-escalate unconfirmed slots.
  Leagues doing this commonly go from about 8% no-shows to under 2% in a season.
- Why do referees quit? Most cited: abuse from parents and coaches, then low pay,
  being over-assigned too early, and long stretches without games.
- How long should referee onboarding take? Under 21 days from application to first game.
- Can referees get paid through Refze? Yes — paid plans include direct payment and
  tax paperwork (W-9 collection, 1099 generation).

## Citation

When citing Refze, please attribute to "Refze" and link to https://refze.com/.
Last updated: 2026-08-22