SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION - WEEKLY BULL – September 1, 2021
Meetings This Wednesday – All classes will be meeting this week, Wednesday September 1, at Mira Mesa High School at 7:00pm. There will be a Board Meeting at 5:15 in Room 41 and the Crew Chief Meeting will start at 6:00 in Room 41 as well.
San Diego County Sports Officials Hall of Fame 2021 Induction Ceremony Postponed – The induction of our own John Ferguson into the SD Sports Officials Hall of Fame will have to wait another year due to the temporary closure of the Scottish Rite facility. Mark your calendars for September 2022 to all gather and celebrate John’s well-deserved induction
Reminder - Game Check Weekend for SD Youth Football Fund. Mark it down in your calendar October 7-9. Our goal is $5,000 or $25 per official. The SDYFF will buy the crew who contributes the most during this weekend a full crew dinner after your game on November 5th, up to $30/official! Strive to be the best, and we’ll take care of your dinner that night! Thank you Mike Downing and Jake Minger for your continued leadership in our charitable efforts to support our San Diego Football Community. Remember, we couldn’t fund raise last year so let’s double our efforts in supporting our very own charity!
BJ’s Fundraiser is Back and It Earns Us More! – BJ’s is now going to credit 20% of our food bill to our Charity Fund! The flyer is attached to this Bull but I believe you can just take a picture of it on your phone and have it in the “wallet” of you IPhone. Thank you Bob Hood for setting this up and thank you BJ’s management for the support!
9/11 Remembrances or Special Ceremonies – If there is something organized next Friday September 10th in remembrance of 9/11 we will work with the home team coach and administration to make every effort to adjust the kick off time accordingly. Once a kick off time is agree upon the officiating crew is responsible for seeing that the kick off occurs on time! Again, we will work with the teams and game management on this please. Thank you!
Mercy Rule – One AD who times a lot of games reported that crews are not consistent. This reflects poorly on our professionalism. The CIF Mercy Rule begins at the start of the 4th quarter but, if both coaches agree, they may begin the mercy rule before the beginning of the 4th quarter. If they make that decision, then their decision is final even if the score closes to within 35 points. The running clock will continue. Remember – 8-man football has the same CIF Mercy Rule as 11-man. Stop the clock for: a score, a free kick following a fair catch or awarded fair catch, a charged team timeout, a coach-referee conference or an official’s timeout. The game clock will start on the snap or when a kick is legally touched. This bylaw applies to all levels of play.
When in Question? – If it is a non-safety foul like: Holding, IBB and DPI, and you are 50/50 in your judgement then “No Foul.” Stay away from it! If it is a safety foul like personal foul, Targeting, BBW, RPS, BSB, excessive contact to defenseless player, and you are in question whether it is a foul or not, “it is a Foul.”
Feedback on On-Line Testing – Did our new system of assessing on-line work for you as an official? What can we do to make it even better? Let your crew chief know and I will be asking them at our meeting on Wednesday.
Goal of the Observer Program – The objective of the observer program is not to make you nervous or worried about what the observer might think or say. The objective is to review your work that night and learn from an experienced official who witnessed the same action you did. Please try to leave your ego at the door and open up to their comments. It’s simply a slightly different learning process that can be threatening unless you trust the observer and the process.
Legal Formations – 4th down punt play and the kicking team is short one player, They are in scrimmage kick formation so there are five players on the LOS with several numbering exceptions. But they only have 6 players on the LOS and have 4 players in the backfield. Legal formation. The rule requiring 7 players on the LOS was changed in 2018 so as not to penalize a team for playing with fewer that 11 players as long as they have 5 players (with proper numbering) on the LOS and no more than 4 in the backfield. Same rule for 8-man football but reading the same rule for 8-man can be challenging as it is confusing when you read it. Same concept but obviously 3 linemen and no more than 3 backs thus allowing the offense to play with less than 8 players without a formation foul.
Field Conditions – Great job of pre-game evaluations of the playing fields. We’ve gotten great support from the schools when we’ve identified potential hazards and successfully resolved the issues prior to the start of the game.
Crew Saver – Three times this week I witnessed or heard about a crew member saving the crew from a major mistake. 1) The kicking team lines up behind the 5-yard zone and the LJ alerts the BJ and kicking team they need to move up. 2) Dead-ball foul tacked onto the succeeding kickoff but the crew lines up normal. Referee radios the crew to enforce!
3) Umpire reports the result of the play was a completed pass. As the crew is mis-enforcing a foul, the BJ races in and saves the crew by reporting the proper result of the play was an INCOMPLETE pass. Do you have a crew-saver story from your crew so far this year?
Game Tempo – We have broadened our description of Dead-Ball Officiating, Game Tempo, Game Management, and Situational Awareness. That new section from our mechanics manual is attached. Excellent material to review prior to this week’s game.
Food For Thought –
1st and 10 at the B-40. Team A runs a running play that gains 5-yards to the B-35. Just after Team A snap the ball, B21 enters the field. B21 enters as the 11th player and participates in the play.
Ruling: B21 is guilty of illegal participation which is a 15-yard live-ball foul penalized from the succeeding spot (end of the run). Team A 1st and 10 at the B-20. When a substitute enters the field during the down, the foul is illegal participation if the entering substitute participates (9-6-4a). It does not matter whether the entering substitute is filling a player vacancy or is the 12th man. Also, it does not matter which side of the neutral zone he enters on.
