SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION - THE WEEKLY BULL - October 20, 2021
No Meeting This Week – We will meet next week 10/27 for our final regular meeting of the year. Please report to your regular classrooms. The agenda will include: Sharing from your games; Bull; Calibration; Weekly Instructional Video; and Voting for the Board.
Bob Hood is Doing Great! – As you may have heard, our Bob Hood was injured during a youth game Saturday night. He got caught up in an intercepted pass play and went to the ground backwards and struck his head on the ground. He is currently going through a concussion protocol but luckily, he is experiencing no pain whatsoever. He won’t be working this week but he’ll be back out there next week!
Board Candidate Statements are Available on the Website – Go to www.sdcfoa.org and you will find them. Good luck to all candidates and thank you to all for offering your time and service to the SDCFOA!
Association Suryey – The Association Board annually offers the members a survey where feedback and suggestions for improvements can be forwarded to the Board. We will be offering the survey via an email so you will have time to complete it without being bothered in class. We value your feedback and we do read and consider every single response. Thank you!
Reporting Fouls – How are we doing in this area? Referees rely on the crew to be calm, collected and complete when reporting foul information. Many of the “huddles” we see are caused by incomplete or scrambled information being provided to the referee. Clay Reynard PAC 12 FJ has a little trick that helps him calm down prior to starting to report the foul info. Clay will always swing by his flag to buy a little time to calm his heart rate and to collect his thoughts before speaking. Maybe alter the speed of your approach to buy a little time, or pause a moment when you get to the referee before beginning to speak. Don Carey refers to a “cleansing breath” just prior to speaking. Let your heart rate decline just a bit and collect your thoughts…then start.
Full information will include (check with your referee on the preferred order, or develop your own…but be consistent and thorough:
(a) Status of the ball (During the run, pass, kick, run back, live ball/dead ball,etc.)
(b) Foul (Holding)
(c) Team (Offense, Defense, kicking team, return team, etc.)
(d) Number (Number 78)
(e) Spot of foul (At my flag, at line of scrimmage, etc.)
(f) Result of the play (Complete/incomplete pass, interception, etc.)
(g) Status of the clock (inbounds/out-of-bounds, etc.)
Who is Holding the Spot? – Sometimes there is some pushing and shoving after a play has ended. Many times it takes an official’s presence and voice to get things calmed down. When that happens, we may have to come off of our dead ball spot to intervene. It is at that time the “off official” needs to recognize the situation and hold the spot for his/her crewmate. The same thing may happen during a discussion following a penalty. If there are several crew members in the huddle, then someone who is not involved needs to hold the dead ball spot. Another crewmate needs to be covering the spot of the foul/flag if it is a spot foul.
Announcement for Officials – We are asking each school to have their announcer read the following announcement at their home games. By doing this we hope to keep recruiting new officials so we can provide the best officials possible to our high school football games.
If you have a passion for the game of football and would like to earn some extra money, consider joining the San Diego County Football Officials and getting back out on the football field as an official. Anyone 18-years or older is eligible to join, and the association even gives scholarships to active or retired military which pays for registration and uniforms. Right now, is a great time to join and become an official by going to SDCFOA.ORG or just google San Diego Football Officials. The website has much more information for you and you can sign up, today!
Food For Thought –
Linebacker B1 is one yard off the line of scrimmage and positioned in the gap between the defensive tackle and the nose guard. While the quarterback is calling signals, B1 approaches the line of scrimmage without crossing it and stomps his foot in front of guard A2 in an attempt to cause A2 to move. (7-1-9)
Ruling: B1 is guilty of a disconcerting act.
Which of the following regarding equipment is true? (1-5-3c-4Note; 1-5-1a-2)
The helmet must be secured by a chin strap with a minimum of six snaps.
An overbuilt facemask is legal.
It is legal to wear tinted eyeglasses or goggles.
Ruling: b and c.
Fourth and seven for team K from its own 20 yardline. K1's punt is a low line drive. R2, standing at team K's 23 yardline, leaps and deflects the ball, which hits the ground at team K's 27 yardline. K3 falls on the ball there. (2-28-2; 5-1-3f; 6-2-4; 6-2-6)
Ruling: It's team K's ball at team K's 27 yardline.
