Weekly Bull 7/25/18

SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION, INC.

THE WEEKLY BULL - JULY 25, 2018

Wednesday’s Agenda –

  1. Sign In Sheets and Attendance

  2. Review the Weekly Bull

  3. Questions On New Rules (Rule Book page 99) and New Mechanics (Mechanics Book – front pages)

  4. Review 2018-19 SDCFOA Mechanics & Philosophies Book – Table of Contents – Mechanics Exam 8/8

  5. Calibration Exercise – Hudl Video and Kahoot.it

  6. Instructional Videos July 11, July 18 & July 25 (As time permits)

Classroom Assignments – An updated version of the 2018 Room Assignments will be posted on the website for your convenience.  Instructors and Rooms are as follows.

  • Crew Chief – Instructors Meeting 6:15 – B-2

  • 1st Year Officials – B-2 (Totty, Phillips, T. Lindsay)

  • 2nd Year Officials – B-15 (D. Carey, Blick, J. Christensen)

  • Ed Zapolski & - Zack Marble – B-4

  • Jay Drewry & Kevin Haws - B-5

  • Mike Downing & Gary Gittelson - B-14

  • David Sibbet & Mike Lemieux – B-13

  • Dave Garza & Robin House – B-12

  • Mike Duggan & Brian Bortness B-11

Thank you Scott Reilly – 106 officials were in attendance last Wednesday for an outstanding session on line of scrimmage mechanics, rules, philosophies and judgments.  Thank you to Scott Reilly of the Big 12 Conference for meeting with all of our officials and reminding us of these important elements.  I have asked for a copy of Scott’s pre-game and pre-snap preparation document so I can share with you all.  The next clinic will be Wednesday August 1st when Michael Mothershed, referee in the PAC 12, will be discussing professionalism, communication, and the activities he uses to develop and involve his PAC 12 crew.  All crew chiefs and youth referees are asked to attend and any other interested certified official is also completely welcome to come and listen to one of SDCFOA’s all-time best officials and a member of the Sports Official’s Hall of Fame!  The program will start at 7:00 pm in the Theater.  As always, 1st and 2nd year officials will meet in their regular classrooms and should not attend this meeting in the theater.

Meeting Attendance, Clinics, and Tests – You must attend 8 meetings and pass the mechanics and rules tests with scores of 70%.  You will get credit for the banquet, so count that as one meeting!  You will also get credit for attending your one Clinic.  That leaves attending at least 6 regular meetings.  If you attend more than one Clinic and come up one meeting short, I will credit you with the extra Clinic and your attendance will meet the standard.  Remember, I’ve made the tests quite reasonable this year, so study, study in groups!, and read the mechanics manual.

New Officials – Welcome to all new officials.  At this time there are 44 new officials signed up and 26 second year officials and transfers.  We will be adding a few more as they trickle in.  Way to recruit SDCFOA!  You are keeping our association strong!

Pre-snap and Dead Ball Routines  – Our pre-snap and dead ball routine must be as complex and thorough as the coaches’ and players’ play-calling and pre-snap adjustments (as explained by Coach Carroll at Oceanside HS).  Are we as prepared for the snap as they are?  A good way to develop your pre-snap and dead ball routines in three separate sequences:

  • Pre-Snap

  • Live Ball

  • Dead Ball (dead ball culminates with the movement of the down indicator – once you move that, you now begin pre-snap routine!)

Base your routine on the SDCFOA Pre-Snap Routine which is located in the mechanics manual.  Each positions pre-snap, live ball and dead ball routines are listed by position.  The live ball portion is listed in the general mechanics for 4-man or 5-man.  The list provided is just that, a list.  Re-order according to your own style and crew.  Write it out…Memorize it…use it every play!  Remember, it changes slightly for kicks, short yardage, etc.. 

Make it Big!!! - There are four and only four reasons to throw a flag:

  1. Safety

  2. Sportsmanship

  3. Administration (LOS fouls, procedure, delay of game, etc.)

  4. Effect on the play (at point of attack with definite, material restriction and advantage gained)

Accuracy in judgement comes from strong, consistent mechanics, mastery of the rules, and a deep understanding and appreciation for the SDCFOA Philosophies and Common Sense documents located in our mechanics manual.  Accuracy comes from a strong foundation – it is the rock of our association!  Thank you George Schutte!

Calibration This Week! – We will be expanding our use of Kahoot.it as a survey tool as we calibrate our judgments of plays presented in class on Hudl.  Bring your Smart Phones to class.  We will only calibrate when certified classes are meeting.  Crew Chief will calibrate during the crew chief meeting and the results will be shared with each classroom so the crew chief responses can be matched to the classroom responses following Kahoot.it survey results in each classroom.  I will send out the calibration video along with a separate Coover Instructional video the weeks we are going to calibrate plays.  This way you can view the fouls prior to going into the classroom.  This exercise has been well received by the SDCFOA and is meant to be an informative, learning experience.  Be open to new ideas, criteria, and the overall consensus! 

On-Line Rules Quiz – As of this week, the 10 question quiz for this year has been taken 272 times by 54 different officials.  The full test has been taken (or at least started) by 49 different people.  There is no substitution for hard work!  Great effort, guys.  

The SDCFOA - 2018 RULES PRACTICE TEST can be found on-line at http://bit.ly/2KIma6r.  The on-line test works both on a computer and mobile device and allows the test taker to stop at any time and resume by logging back on with their e-mail address.  
The SDCFOA - 2018 RULES QUICK QUIZ is on-line at http://bit.ly/2HWfkMU and uses the same bank of 100 questions but is only a 10 question quiz (the question are pulled randomly from the question bank}.  The quiz does not allow the user to stop and start over and you cannot print the quiz.  The quiz gives immediate feedback on the answers as they are submitted.  The test gives the answers once the user has completed the test. 

Blocks Below the Waist – Nothing has changed.  If the QB is under center, and the block is in the zone, the ball is most likely in the zone and the low block is legal...(assuming the players were on the line of scrimmage and in the free blocking zone at the snap).  If the QB is in shotgun, the ball is most likely out of the zone (immediately) and any low block is illegal.  I’m still waiting for film that shows a legal BBW in shotgun!

Illegal Equipment Warnings – I am strongly recommending that we don’t issue warnings as we did in previous years.  If you want to warn all players to, “Check your equipment” or congratulate a team for, “Good job of monitoring your equipment” that seems like a preventative and positive approach to the new rule.  What I’m “paranoid” of, is our asking a player on team A to pull down knee pads, and subsequently sending out a player on team B for the same knee pad issue.  Then the team B coach asks, in a very polite tone, “You warned the other guy, why does my guy have to come out!”  Also, would we need to communicate to all crew members who received a warning and who didn’t?  I just spoke with my counterpart in Ohio who piloted and authored this rule change.  He reminded me that the difference between week #1 and week #10 relative to this new rule will be remarkable.  He said it is very similar to the helmet rule in his experience. 

New Options on Live Ball Fouls by K During Free/Scrimmage Kick DOWN – Please note, it does not say  during the kick.  Rather, it says, “…scrimmage kick down”.  Receivers must be the next to put the ball in play so be careful of that, and don’t confuse it with fouls by R which are PSK or Kick Catch Interference fouls.  PSK which have their own multiple enforcements which have not changed.  This week’s Instructional Video will highlights this new option for coaches.  PS – I’ve told coaches to always ask if a tack on option is available.  That should help us all be on the same page (always optimistic!)

Pop Up Kicks – If the kick scoots along the ground and then “pops up” after the 2nd or 3rd dribble, is that a pop up kick?  Answer: No.  A pop up kick must be driven immediately into the ground, striking the ground once, and going into the air in a manner of a ball kicked directly off the tee. 

Do you have any conflicts of interest?  Here are some possible conflicts of interest which may cause you to block yourself from working a particular school:

  1. Your alma mater – Don’t work games at your high school if you’ve graduated within the last five years. If you still have ties to the school, were a noted athlete, or still good friends with members of the coaching staff, 10 years or longer would apply.

  2. Family connections – Don’t work games at a school if you have a family connection.

  3. Business ties – If you are employed by a school, don’t officiate that school. Also be careful of bosses whose kids play for a particular school.

Blocks in Arbiter – Assignments will be coming out soon! Don’t forget to block the dates you cannot work.  If a game comes up on a Thursday and you’re not blocked, Tom will assign assuming you are available.  A phone call or email saying you’re not available doesn’t do well for you the next time a game comes up and it’s your turn.  Conversely, if you block a Saturday and a big game comes up, you will not show up as available for that “big assignment”.  So keep your blocks honest and up-to-date!

Gently Used Equipment and Uniforms – Every year we get a chance to update our equipment and uniform.  If you have some extra equipment or uniform pieces that are still in good shape our 1st year officials would LOVE it if you’d donate to Room B-2. 

Coach’s Cards - Coach’s Cards can be filled out and downloaded at www.sdcfoa.org under Educational Resources and Football Mechanics.  These cards are to be presented to the head coach at the Pregame Meeting or at the sideline meeting between the flank official and his head coach at EVERY high school VARSITY game.

Referee and Umpire Pregame Conference - Confer with coaches and check game balls. Be businesslike and cordial but not overly friendly with the coaches. During the Pre-Game meeting with the coaches, the REFEREE shall confirm (but not be limited to) the following information starting with the HOME TEAM and in no particular order:

  1. Introductions (hat off) – My name is (your name) and I’ll be your referee tonight. (Coach’s Card)

  2. Everyone legally equipped?

  3. Any unusual plays or formations?

  4. Will you be going in before kickoff?

  5. Where will you go at halftime?

  6. As you know we will expect good sportsmanship tonight.

  7. Let’s agree on how we’re going to communicate tonight….

  8. Who is your “Get Back Coach”? In order to hear and see a signal from the sideline for a Time Out, you may enter the field so as to alert any/all officials to stop the clock.

  9. Can we see your game ball, please?

  10. My watch/the game clock has the correct time; we will come for the captains in 15minutes.

  11. Good luck, coach

Next Regular Meeting Wednesday August 1st – Only at Mira Mesa High School – All certified officials will take the Mechanics Qualification Test August 1st.  This year, because we are meeting at Mira Mesa and it is so close to Cathedral HS, we will not be offering a meeting at Cathedral HS.   Everyone meets at Mira Mesa.  If this is a major inconvenience, we will hear about it when we conduct the end of the season survey…right?

July 25 2018
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