Website Guide
How to sign in, update your roster photo, and check in at meetings.
What is changing
Today, everyone shares one password to open the members-only pages. That is going away. Soon, each member signs in with the same email address used for Arbiter and a password they choose themselves. It is the same website and the same pages. You just get your own key.
Why we are doing it
- A password everyone shares is easy to pass around, and hard to take back.
- Each person sees only what they need: Member Resources for everyone, and the evaluation tools for those who use them.
- You can see your own meeting attendance, and where you stand for playoff eligibility.
What stays the same
- The same web address, mtfoa.org.
- The same Member Resources: meeting recordings, documents, Arbiter help, training and policies.
- Nothing to install, and no app to download.
What you need to do
- The first time, choose your password. On the Member Sign In page (choose Member Sign In in the menu at the top of the site), click “First time here, or forgot your password? Get a code.” Type the email address you use for Arbiter. We email you a 6-digit code. Type the code, choose a password (at least 8 characters; if it is shorter than 12, mix at least three of lowercase, UPPERCASE, numbers and symbols, and avoid your name, email or common words) and type it twice, and you are in.
- After that, just sign in. Use your Arbiter email and your MTFOA password. This is not your Arbiter password, unless you chose the same one. It is the password you typed twice the first time you signed up. Leave “Keep me signed in on this device” ticked on your own phone or computer, and you will not have to sign in again for about a month.
Other ways to sign in
Once you are in, open the My profile tab and you can add a quicker way to sign in. Your password and emailed codes keep working either way.
- Face ID / fingerprint. Open the Face ID / fingerprint sign-in card and choose Set up on this device. Next time, choose Sign in with Face ID / fingerprint on the sign-in page. Do this once on each phone or computer you use.
- Sign in with Google. Open the Sign in with Google card, choose the Google button and pick your Google account. Next time, choose the Google button on the sign-in page. If your Google account uses the same email address that Arbiter has for you, it may work even before you connect. We never see your Google password, and you can disconnect it from the same card.
Officers who use the administrator tools sign in with their password and an emailed code; the Google button does not open those accounts.
What you will see after you sign in
Everyone
At the top, Your MTFOA Dashboard: small tiles for your playoff status and your emergency contact, plus a tile for the banquet or a Board election whenever one is open. Tap a tile and its details open just below it. Under the tiles are tabs for Member Resources, Attendance (your own meetings and your green or red playoff light; only you can see them) and My profile (your contact details). Below the tiles, a short What’s new box appears when something has changed since your last visit; tap the × to hide it.
Referees
A Game reports tab holds the evaluation tools, the Referee Varsity Game Report and the online Foul report. At the end of the game report you are asked whether a TSSAA Unusual Occurrence Report needs to be filed; if you say yes, the TSSAA page opens as soon as your report is sent.
Administrators
An Admin & Reports tab holds the tools in groups: Overview, Meetings, Banquet & board, People, Help someone, Messages and Settings. You only see the groups and tools your role allows. Among them: Check-in locations (who was at a meeting, with an “Email me this meeting’s report” button), Update from Arbiter (keeps the roster in step with Arbiter, with a sync-health panel that shows when it was last updated and any differences), and Dashboard. The Master and Alec Calvert also get a report by email the morning after each meeting. People who approve roster photos also see a notice at the top of the portal when photos are waiting.
Supervisors and the board
Everything above, plus everyone’s meeting attendance. Supervisors can also view and edit their observation report, and they are exempt from the attendance requirement.
Your home page
When you are signed in, the home page at mtfoa.org knows who you are.
Welcome and progress
Under the headline you see Welcome back and your first name, then a strip with your playoff progress (for example 4 of 6 meetings, or “Requirement met”) and quick links to My MTFOA, the News page and Help. Supervisors and the board are exempt, so they see only the links.
Latest news
The newest announcements are on the home page, with the rest on the News & Info page.
If you are not signed in
Visitors see the Become an official and Member sign in buttons and the same bands and news, without the personal parts.
Where to find everything
These are the places that asked for a password before. After the switch, you sign in once on My MTFOA. Each one of these opens inside the portal, and you only see the ones your role allows. The evaluation tools, the game report and the foul report are grouped under the Game reports tab.
Where you sign in (the menu says Member Sign In until you do), see your dashboard, update your contact details and set up your password the first time. The tools below open inside it once you are signed in.Open Member Roster
Update your own photo on the public roster. Look for “My Roster Photo” near the top.Open Member Resources
Meeting recordings and agendas, dues, game and administrative documents, foul reports, Arbiter help, training and policies.Open Deep Wings Official Rating
Rate the deep wing officials you observed. It opens from the Game reports tab in My MTFOA.Open Observation Tracking
Varsity observation tracking, plus the sub-varsity feedback form and results. It opens from the Game reports tab in My MTFOA.Open Referee Varsity Game Report
File your game report. At the end it asks whether a TSSAA Unusual Occurrence Report is needed and, if so, opens the TSSAA page for you. It opens from the Game reports tab in My MTFOA.Open Find your officiating association
For anyone thinking of officiating, or friends who are: a map of Tennessee’s football officiating associations, their high schools and who to contact. Open to everyone, no sign-in needed.Open Game Card Creator
Make the game cards for a game: the teams, the date and the crew, as a PDF that prints three cards to a page. It makes a press box card, a visiting coach card and a home coach card. You will also find it as Coach’s Game Card under Game Resources in Member Resources.Open Foul Report
Fill in your game’s foul report online and send it as the official 2026 Excel report. You can also find it under Game reports.Open
You will only see the tools your role allows.
Upload your own roster photo
You can update your own photo on the public Member Roster yourself — no need to email anyone.
- Go to the Member Roster page and look for “My Roster Photo” near the top, just under the search box.
- Tap it to expand it, then choose a photo (JPEG or PNG, under 8 MB).
- Drag to reposition and use the slider to zoom until the crop looks right, then submit it for approval.
Your meeting attendance and the green light
Your panel lists every meeting, marks the ones you attended and the ones you missed, and shows one light. It uses the playoff eligibility rules already posted on the Meetings & News page.
You have the credit needed: six local meetings, at least five of them in person.
Not there yet. It tells you how many more you need, and which meetings are still coming up.
How meetings count
- Local meetings count, and so does the banquet.
- Live virtual meetings count like in-person meetings.
- You may receive credit for one meeting by watching a recording.
- The state meeting is tracked by the TSSAA, so it does not appear here.
If it looks wrong
A meeting shows as “Attendance not posted yet” until Alec Calvert has entered it. If your record is wrong, or you are missing, use the “Something look wrong? Email Alec Calvert” link on your panel, or write to aleccalvert@gmail.com.
Checking in at a meeting
At a live meeting, you can check yourself in from your phone in a few seconds. It puts you on the attendance list as present in person. You do not have to wait for the attendance list to be entered later.
Live demo — try scanning it with your phone
Or type the number: 000000
Scan the QR code
- Open your phone’s camera and point it at the QR code shown on the screen at the meeting.
- Tap the link that appears. My MTFOA opens.
- Sign in if it asks you to. You are checked in as soon as you are signed in, and your Attendance tab shows a confirmation.
Or type the 6-digit number
- Sign in to My MTFOA on your phone and open the Attendance tab.
- On the row for today’s meeting, tap Check in.
- Type the 6-digit number shown under the QR code on the screen. It sends itself when you type the sixth digit.
- The code on the screen changes every few seconds, so scan or type what is on the screen right now. A photo of it will not work.
- The Check in button shows on the day of the meeting. Check-in is turned on by the person running the meeting when it is time and turned off when it is over, so if it says check-in is not open yet, ask at the check-in table.
- If you scan or type a code after you are already checked in, you are simply told that you are already checked in.
- Supervisors can check in too. Checking in does not change their status: supervisors are still exempt from the meeting attendance requirement.
Getting credit for a recorded meeting
Watched a meeting recording instead of attending live? For the October 14 meeting, and for every meeting from now on, your credit is added automatically. There is no code to find and no need to email Alec Calvert.
- Sign in to My MTFOA and open Member Resources, then Meetings.
- Watch the meeting recording right there on the page. Play it in the player on the page (not on YouTube itself) so your viewing can be counted.
- That is all. When you have watched at least 90% of it, your virtual credit is added and shows on your Attendance tab. If a watch looks unusual (for example, very fast playback or a lot of skipping), Alec reviews it and approves or rejects it.
Nominations and voting
When Board seats are open, tiles for them appear on your dashboard. Tap a tile and its details open just below it.
Board nominations
Shown while nominations are open. Search for an official by name and nominate them. An official can be nominated only once.
Your nomination
If someone nominated you, this tile lets you accept or decline.
Board vote
When voting opens, tap it, choose from the candidates shown, review your ballot and cast it. Your choices are stored separately from your name, and nobody is shown how you voted. Votes are final once cast.
Your mentor match
If you are a mentor or a mentee, the person you are matched with is shown at the top of the 2026 Mentor Assignments tab in Member Resources, with their contact details.
If you are a mentee
You see Your mentor: their name, with call and text links for their mobile number and an email link.
If you are a mentor
You see You are mentoring for each mentee: name, experience, position and location, with call, text and email links.
- Contact details are shown only to the two people in a match.
- No card? You have not been matched yet. Ask the mentor coordinator.
Your profile
Open the My profile tab (or tap the Emergency contact tile).
Your contact details
Your phone numbers, emergency contact and mailing address. Click Save my details. Only you and the association’s administrators see your phone numbers and address. Your emergency contact’s name and phone also appear, without your email, on the signed-in officials’ emergency list.
Send your foul report online
The same report as the 2026 Excel template, filled in on the website.
- Open the Game reports tab in My MTFOA and choose Foul report, or go to mtfoa.org/foul-report while signed in.
- Fill in the game and each foul. Your answers are kept on this device until you send, so you can come back to finish. Pick the covering official(s) from the one list, and fill in the crew names marked *. A report holds up to 70 fouls: past 35, the email carries a second Excel file automatically.
- Press “Send foul report.” The MTFOA puts your answers into the official template and emails the Excel file to Roger Rettke, with Junior Ward and you copied.
Make your game cards
The game card for the press box and for each coach, made on the website and printed three to a page.
- Open the card maker. In Member Resources, go to the Game Resources tab and choose Coach’s Game Card, or go to mtfoa.org/game-card.
- Enter the game. The game date, the home team and the visiting team.
- Enter the crew. Referee, Umpire, Head Linesman, Line Judge, Back Judge, Field Judge, Side Judge, ECO and PCO. Start typing a name and the MTFOA roster fills in; pick a name or type any name you like. Leave a spot empty if you do not have it (a 5-man crew has no Field Judge or Side Judge) and it is left off the card.
- Choose what to print. One of each version on a single page is the default. You can also print a full page of each version, or a full page of just one.
- Press “Open PDF to print” (or Download PDF). Print on letter-size paper at 100% (actual size) and cut along the dashed lines. Each card is 6 x 3.25 inches.
Put the portal on your phone’s home screen
One tap from your home screen, like an app. Nothing to download from an app store.
iPhone (Safari)
Open the My MTFOA, tap the Share button (the square with an arrow), choose Add to Home Screen, then tap Add.
Android (Chrome)
Open My MTFOA, tap the ⋮ menu, choose Add to Home screen (or Install app), then confirm.
You get a red tri-star MTFOA icon. The first time you open it from the home screen you may need to sign in once more; tick “Keep me signed in on this device” so it remembers you.
Find your officiating association
Know someone who would make a good official, or are you helping a new official find the right group? This page is open to everyone: mtfoa.org/find-association.
- Enter a high school or a zip code. Start typing a school name and pick it from the list, or type a 5-digit Tennessee zip code, then press Find an association.
- Read the map and the three cards. The pin marks the school or zip code and the closest associations stay in color. A school search lists its TSSAA-assigned association first. Each card has the football recruiter, the girls’ flag football contact and a website when there is one. The MTFOA card has a Join the MTFOA button.
- See an association’s schools. Tap it in the color key, tap a county, or press See its schools on the map. The map zooms in, shows a dot for each high school and lists the names under it.
Questions
Where did the evaluation tools and the game report go?
They are grouped under the Game reports tab in My MTFOA, together with the online foul report. You only see the tools your role allows.
How do I change my emergency contact?
Open the My profile tab in My MTFOA, change it under Your contact details and click Save my details.
How long does it take for my new roster photo to show up?
It will not replace your current photo right away. Your photo is submitted for approval first, and it appears on the public roster automatically once it has been approved.
Do I still need to email Alec after watching a meeting recording?
No. Watch the recording in Member Resources > Meetings while you are signed in. When you have watched at least 90% of it, your credit is added automatically and shows on your Attendance tab. Remember, only one meeting all season may be credited this way. Older meetings that show a code in the video still use the “Watched a meeting video?” box.
Which email address do I use?
The email address you use for Arbiter. That is the address we have on file for you. If you sign up with a different address, the system will not recognize you.
The code email did not come.
Look in your Spam or Junk folder first. The message is from MTFOA and the subject says “Your MTFOA website code”. Codes work for 15 minutes. If nothing arrives after a few minutes, ask for a new code, or email the webmaster (below) and we can give you a code another way.
I forgot my password.
Click “First time here, or forgot your password? Get a code” on the Member Sign In page and choose a new one. It takes about a minute.
It says my email is not right, or I am not on the list.
The list came from Arbiter. If you have a new email address, or joined recently, email the webmaster (below) with your name and the address you use for Arbiter.
Can I sign in with Google, Face ID or my fingerprint?
Yes. Sign in the usual way, open the My profile tab, and set up either one in its own card (Sign in with Google or Face ID / fingerprint sign-in). After that, choose the matching button on the sign-in page. Your password and emailed codes still work, so you cannot lock yourself out.
Is my password safe?
Yes. Nobody, including the webmaster, can see or look up your password. It is stored in a scrambled form that cannot be turned back into your password. If you forget it, you choose a new one.
I do not have my phone, or I cannot sign in, at a meeting.
Tell Alec Calvert, or whoever is at the check-in table. They can check you in by hand, in person, from their My MTFOA page. You do not need to sign in.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. It works on phones, tablets and computers.
Someone else uses my computer. Is it safe to stay signed in?
Only tick “Keep me signed in” on a device that is yours. On a shared computer, leave it unticked and click Sign out when you finish.
Questions? Email the webmaster at mtfoawebmaster@gmail.com.