Weekly Bull 3/17/21
SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION - THE WEEKLY BULL – March 17, 2021
Meetings This Week – Crew Chief Meeting this Wednesday 3/17 at 6:00 pm. We will review Covid game administration issues that may have arisen this past week. We need to share and be prepared for a wide variety of situations and requirements. Please share this shared info back to your crew. Meetings by individual crews will follow at 7:00 pm unless another date/time have been selected. As usual, crews should:
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Cover items from the crew chief meeting,
Review the Bull,
View and discuss the Instructional Video, and
Spend time sharpening our judgments using the calibration video.
Improvement Week #1 To Week #2 – Work hard this week! All crews have had some on-field work together. What were the things that need to get “ironed out?” What are the preferences and requirements of your crew chief? What are the individual goals for improvement this week? What are the crew goals for getting even better? Get involved with your crew. Phone a member or members of your crew to discuss opportunities to improve based upon your crew’s evaluation and the review of the film. The improvement from week #1 to week #2 is the most dramatic all season for all three teams (players, coaches, and officials).
Visitors at Games – If you wish to visit a game and observe a crew make sure you contact the school and find out what the admission policy is. Schools are being very careful with admitting fans.
Social Media Platform - As a reminder. Be careful what you post, tweet, comment, liked, or agreed with on your site. All of this is in public and you never know who may be reading these posts and take offense with you. It might be your own crew member who is offended, and might not say anything about it. Save it all for personal conversations, not public forums.
Keep Checking Arbiter – As we’ve told you before, our schedules are very tentative. Things can change at any moment. Be alert for changes.
The Clock & Chain Crews – I’m hearing from coaches that, due to the restricted attendance policy, they’ve never had such a large group of parents volunteering for these positions. Maybe our chain crew and timer will arrive 30-minutes prior to game time so we can conduct our pre-game instructions on time!
Sideline Personnel – The following individuals are allowed on the sidelines (but “masked up” at all times): Chain Crew, Ball Persons; Administrators, Ads, Media (including school newspaper/yearbook/photographer) and Athletic Trainers/Doctors. Spectators must be removed by the game administration.
No Locker Rooms – In AZ the crews would arrive in the parking lot of the school and go to a far corner and park cars back-to-back and open their trunks, thus creating a somewhat secluded spot for a quick pre-game before heading to the field. This is a tip passed on by Tim Podraza’s son who worked some 1st year assignments in AZ earlier this year.
Changes of Possession – Please sell all sudden changes of possession with “strong” but not “overly showy” signals. Stop the clock with a “big”, slow signal followed by a strong, signal for the new direction of play.
Instructional Video This Week – There are some important lessons demonstrated in this week’s instructional video. Please set aside some time to view it and discuss those relevant plays as a crew.
Time Outs, Quarter Changes, and Period Between PAT and Kickoff – Keep the tempo high but relax if a team is requesting some additional time to complete their hydration with individual water bottles. We can discuss on Wednesday crew chief meeting.
Referees – Your leadership has never been more important! With these times of uncertainty, the crew, coaches, Ads, and fans look to you for calm, cool problem-solving and flexibility. Thank you for setting a calm, professional tone for your games.
Halftime/Post Game List – The expectation is that you conduct a thorough review of the 1st half at halftime. Then you do the same for the 2nd half immediately after the game. Here is the sample list to follow:
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How are the chains?
How are your sidelines/restricted areas?
How are your head coaches doing?
Timer?
How is our game tempo?
Let’s review the foul report & plays of interest to be included in Hudl game cutups.
Were there any other unusual plays or necessary adjustments we need to make?
How did our “players to watch” do in the first half/second half?
What does this game need? Blowout/Overtime?
How did we do on our crew goals in the first half/second half?
Lightening - From the NFHS Rule Book – From the back of the Rule Book – Include game administration in any decision making:
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When thunder is heard, or a cloud-to-ground lightning strike is seen, the thunderstorm is close enough to strike your location with lightning. Suspend play and take shelter immediately.
Thirty minute rule. Once play has been suspended, wait at least 30 minutes after the last thunder is heard or flash of lightning is witnessed prior to resuming play.
Any subsequent thunder or lightning after the beginning of the 30 minute count, reset the clock and another 30 minute count should begin.