SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION THE WEEKLY BULL - August 2, 2023
This Wednesday’s Agenda – Attendance - Weekly Bull – Instructional Video – Calibration Video – Check your attendance and make sure it’s accurate! Make sure you get credit for attending Clinics or watching them on our website.
“The first flag sets the bar for the rest of the game.” – Greg Burks, Big 12 Supervisor of Officials This common sense quote is consistent with our philosophies which can be found in our manual. Those philosophies must be read, reviewed, and mastered by all officials when preparing for the season, and each week’s games. Furthermore, post-game and crew self-evaluation and the use of game video can help us as we calibrate our judgment with our association’s collective judgment. Only through preparation and study will we be ready to “set the bar” at the proper level for each game.
Foul Count - Did you know that the average number of fouls at the NCAA level is slightly over 14 fouls per/game. How do we compare to that average? Crews should monitor their foul count and when it is well beyond this average, an analysis of all fouls should be conducted. Sometimes the game is just “one-of-those-games”, but usually we can work to lower our foul count.
Clinic Attendance & Attendance Overall – You are responsible for your attendance being accurate. Your instructor will carefully mark the attendance, but you must make sure it is correct. Have your instructor mark your clinic attendance as well. That may be useful at the end of the season for overall attendance requirement. Your nine (9) meetings include one clinic and the banquet.
Garth DeFelice and Michael Mothershed – Simply an amazing clinic. It is now posted onto our website under Instructional Video. Thank you to Garth and Michael. If we had Michael’s presence plus Garth’s vision, we’d be superstars…so we can learn and strive for improvement!
Certified Ofiicials to Take the Mechanics Qualification Exam (4-Man & 5-Man) On-Line – This test will provide a quick check to make sure you know who has what responsibilities on each type of game situation (time out, measurement, penalty, free kick, scrimmage kick, etc.). We all know that every official will miss 2 questions because they hurried or mis-read the question. 98% is like a perfect score! We will not involve crew chiefs this time as this test is straight forward and a crew discussion of the questions is not going to be necessary. Scott Carroll will be emailing each certified official with directions for taking the exam. You will get immediate results after you hit “submit” and Scott will forward all of the scores to me so that I can enter them onto the attendance rosters. You will want to confirm your scores at the next meeting when your score gets posted. 2ND YEAR OFFICIALS WILL TAKE THE TEST IN CLASS THIS WEDNESDAY – see the next article below.
2nd Year Officials to Take the Mechanics Exam in Class – You will be taking the Mechanics Exam on 8/2 in class this week. Don’t miss the opportunity to get the exam completed and scored the same night. You don’t want to get pulled out of class to do a “make up” exam on your own while the others are in class discussing the regular instructional topics. Get it done this Wednesday. Remember, only 4-person and 5-person mechanics. Good luck.
1st Year Officials – You will get your first look at live action and the field, next week, Wednesday 8/9 at La Jolla High School. Please report to La Jolla High School, not Mira Mesa. Your instructors will announce the time and other important info in your classrooms.
Referees and Veterans Working With New Officials – Just a reminder to our veterans, please be positive and compassionate with our newest officials. Their development comes, in a great part, from mistakes. So, please, stay positive and constructive. Find some positives and compliment them on those things they’re doing well. Then blend in just a couple (maybe just two) things to work on. One of the very best things you can do is point out something to work on in the first game, and then be able to compliment them on their improvement in those specific areas!
Certified & Crew Scrimmage Uniform – The high school scrimmage uniform will be our regular uniform with pants. We’re being paid and we will look professional.
Back Judge ZOOM Clinic – Wednesday 8/9, one of our finest Back Judges, Mark Halby, will be presenting with Super Bowl BJ Don Carey. They will be discussing run zone coverage in 5-man mechanics, proper positioning and vison patterns, dead ball and pre-snap mechanics, and fouls common to the BJ position. Please reference our mechanics manual and your Pre-Game and Pre-Snap Check Lists!
US Veteran Patches – The SDCFOA offers US Veteran patches to all who have served our country in the armed services. We proudly display the patch over the pocket and under the American Flag. Please limit your request to 3 per veteran (maybe 2 short sleeve shirts and 1 long sleeve shirt.) Again, thank you for your service! See Ed Zapolski, or Bob Hood, or Joe Magnuson for your well-deserved patches.
Equipment and Uniform Vendors – All of these vendors can be found on our webpage at www.sdcfoa.org.
Food for Thought: Kick Catch Interference – KCI is a live ball foul during the kick. It has the following special enforcement options to the receiving team: R may accept the results of the play (decline the penalty); R may accept an awarded fair catch after enforcement of a 15-yard penalty from the spot of the foul; or R may choose to have the 15-yard penalty enforced from the previous spot and a replay of the down.
More Kick Catch Interference - If a kick is in flight, and there is no fair catch signal by any R player, and while the ball is still in flight the kickers interfere with the receiver (KCI), then the ball is loose and picked up by another R player who advances for a TD. What options does the receiving team have? R will have to decline the foul to get the TD. Why can’t we tack it on?
Even More KCI – On a scrimmage kick (punt), R12 is back and signals for a fair catch but muffs the ball which goes high into the air. While the ball is up in the air, player K55 contacts R12 with a legal “wrap up” tackle. Is this a foul? Remember protection for the receiver who has signaled, or not signaled, ends when the kick ends (when touched by R).
Excessive Contact to a Defenseless Receiver (punt returner) – Now we have R receiver back to receive the punt and just after he first “touches” the kick (does not possess the kick) he is “blown up” by a kicking team player in a manner that is judged to be excessive contact to a defenseless receiver. The ball bounces back and is recovered by a K player. What are the penalty options? What are the options if it is recovered by a Receiving Team Player? Now the Receiver actually catches and possesses the ball as he’s blown up (continues to hold onto the ball and is downed immediately.) Now what are the penalty options for the Receiving team?
Weather Delays – As you know we follow the Guidelines on handling contests during lightning or thunder disturbances on page 104 of the rule book. Clarification from NFHS reminds us that coaches or game officials cannot shorten the halftime or warm-up period. However, both coaches could agree to shorten, or even end, the second period during the delay, and then the third quarter could start after the delay as soon as the mandatory warm-up period is completed.
