SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION - THE WEEKLY BULL – October 30, 2024
Final Meeting This Wednesday – Important meeting this Wednesday. This will be our final instructional meeting of the year. The agenda will be: Attendance; The Bull, Plays of the Week, Calibration and Instructional Video. We’ve had excellent attendance this year so, thank you. Great job!
Flag Football – Defenders are not allowed to contact any receiver. No bump and run coverage. If a defender is standing in front of the receiver at the snap, then the receiver must avoid contact with the defender, but the defender may not initiate any contact with the receiver. The result must be that the receiver is allowed a clean release from the line of scrimmage.
Velcro Flags – There are still a few teams left who are using Velcro flags. These are widely considered easier to pull than the pop flags as the Velcro provides less resistance than the pop ones. Officials must be alert to these Velcro flags sliding from the sides to the front and back of the waistline. You can never have too many “flag checks”!
Flag Shorts/Pants - 1) Must be part of a uniform. 2) The uniform may be a flag football, soccer, or lacrosse uniform. 3) No Open Pockets, belt loops, or exposed drawstrings. 4) Spandex and compression shorts may be worn under the uniform. 5) No torn shorts or sweatpants. 6) The pants or shorts must be a contrasting color to the flags.
Final Weekend of the Regular Season – Some of us will end our season soon and I sincerely hope that the season has brought you some rewarding experiences, a few laughs, and some lasting memories. Maybe you’ve even made a few new friends along the way. The 2025 season will be here soon and we can do it all again! Don’t forget to go out and support our fellow officials as they work playoff games. Always a fun evening learning and critiquing.
Final Games for the Teams and Players – This is usually a challenging weekend of high school football to officiate. In many cases the teams are competing for league championships and/or playoff qualification or seeding. The intensity will be high, the stakes high, and the demands on accuracy high! Be prepared for this excitement and pressure. Have a great week of preparation, then go out with your crew and execute. Same can be said for teams that are wrapping up the season with no hope of going to the playoffs. Seniors will be playing hard and juniors will be stepping up to prepare for next year. Keep this all under control. Have a plan. Don’t be surprised by the excitement of these final games.
Pre-Game Conference – Let’s do everything possible to conduct these two conferences near the start of the 30-minute warm up period. In the playoffs we ask crews to be out 45 minutes before kickoff and that gives us even more opportunity to conference with the coaches before they get involved in running team offense and defense. Start these as soon as you can.
Great Mechanics Helps to Sell Your Close Call – We had an example of a critical 4th down play in which the team needed the close call to go their way in order to not lose the game. On this play at the sideline, the official was in perfect underneath position approximately 6-8 yards right down the sideline straddling the sideline.…Great job!
Injured Player and Official’s Time Out – As much as we want to error on the side of safety, we need to be cautious on declaring a player injured and taking an official’s time out for an apparently injured player. Let’s always give the player a chance to “recover” and continue to participate, especially if the play clock is not affected. We have the luxury of time to allow the athlete to recover.
Video – We had our absolute best year of video review. Crews had access to their game video every week. Honest evaluation of our calls and judgments are so important to our individual and collective improvement. And don’t forget to review your spots and your mechanics. It all adds up to the best performance possible.
Golf Tournament - Sign up now! SDYFF.org is the sign-up hub. We are at, or near our maximum number, so sign up closes this Friday. Raffle prizes are needed, think about getting something to donate to raffle. The golf tournament raffle is separate from the Banquet raffle, so we always want everyone to leave the golf tournament with a memento. If you can donate something, please bring to tourney, or let Mike Downing know at docdowning@aol.com or 619-888-6430. Thanks!
