Step-by-step guides and answers for officials, hosts, and organizers — from your first game to a full season.
New to Whistle? Start here.
Whistle connects three groups so games always have qualified officials.
A single Whistle account can act as more than one role.
Getting started takes a couple of minutes.
Find games, get assigned, check in, and build your reputation.
The onboarding wizard walks you through five quick steps.
Your level controls which games you can take.
The marketplace shows games that fit you.
Boards can assign you directly instead of you claiming a game.
Tell Whistle when you can and can’t work.
Check-in confirms you showed up and protects your reputation.
Reviews are mutual and fair.
Post games, run leagues and tournaments, and get every game covered.
Get one game in front of qualified officials.
Group recurring games under one schedule.
Manage a bracketed, multi-game event in one place.
There’s more than one way a game gets filled.
Ratings keep quality high across the platform.
Build a roster and fill a full schedule with the Whistle Engine.
Organizers run a referee board.
New boards go through a quick approval step.
You can join a board that’s already live.
You control who is on your board.
Set the certification the engine uses for your games.
Fill a full schedule with the best-fit officials.
You always have the final say.
Grow your roster.
Quick answers to the questions we hear most.
A game only appears if it matches your certification level, is within range of your home location, and falls inside your set availability. If any of those don’t line up, the game is hidden from you.
You’ve been offered the game but haven’t responded yet. Accept it to confirm your spot — it stays pending until you do.
You accepted a game but never checked in before it ended. Always check in on-site so you aren’t marked a no-show.
Check-in opens 15 minutes before the start time and requires you to be at the venue. If you’re too early or not close enough, it won’t let you in yet.
You can withdraw, but declining a league game you committed to is treated seriously and may block that time slot so you can’t pick up a different game during it. Decline early, and only when you have to.
Scorekeeper isn’t a separate role — it’s an official at certification level 0. Level 1 and up can work both referee and scorekeeper positions.
Update your personal level in your profile settings. Note that a board can set a different level for assignments within that organization.
It stays open on the marketplace. If you work with a board that has automatic coverage enabled, an unfilled game can be pushed back out close to start time to maximize the chance it’s filled.
Yes — you can cancel a game any time before it starts. Assigned officials are notified.
Officials’ personal contact details and home address are never shown to hosts, by design.
Qualified officials claim open games from the marketplace, or a referee board assigns its roster — optionally using the auto-assign engine.
A league groups recurring games over a season; a tournament organizes a bracketed, multi-game event. You can run either from your dashboard.
New boards require Whistle admin approval. Until approved, your board is hidden from browse and join, and you’ll see a pending screen.
It scores every official-game pairing from 0 to 100 using availability, certification, rating, distance, fatigue, recent team conflicts, and schedule clustering, then assigns the highest matches.
Yes. Review the engine’s output and reassign any game manually before you publish.
Reassign the game manually or re-run auto-assign, and factor their reliability into future assignments.
The personal level is what the official manages on their own profile. The organization level is what your board sets for its assignments — they can differ.
Yes. One account can be an official, host, and organizer. Switch between them from the role switcher in the top bar.
Manage your notification preferences in Settings.
Access is controlled by role. In particular, officials’ personal contact details and home address are never exposed to hosts.
You can request account deletion from Settings. This removes your account and its associated data.
Email support@whistleapp.ca and our team will help you out.
The Whistle terms worth knowing.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our team is happy to help.
