Board Elections – Anyone who is interested in running in the upcoming Board of Directors elections should contact Greg Covington by September 28th.
Message from the Tom Ables – Please make sure your availability in Arbiter is accurate. A game was scheduled on a Tuesday for some reason and several of the people assigned declined the game. Block out all days you are unavailable, please!
Mesa College and Southwestern College Facilities – Due to construction at Mesa College you will have to park on the street as near to the Gym as possible. You will find a small walkway from the street to the gym (it goes by the tennis courts). As for Southwestern College, we will be allowed to use the fourth floor dressing facility. I believe you use the elevator to get to the field from that level.
Sweetwater School District on Break – If there is a delay in getting your payment from a Sweetwater district school it is because they are on a two week break/vacation. Checks will be processed as soon as school reesumes.
Snack Bars & Officials – Please remember to use your manners if you have been offered a beverage at halftime. Do not help yourself. Do not get excessive with your requests. Snack bars are there to raise revenue for the school and its programs. Offering us liquids at halftime is a gracious act. We do not have a clause in our contract with CIF that guarantees us free food and beverages. Carry money if you must. Be thankful when they offer. Don’t embarrass our organization. Thank you!
Equipment – If you’re judging equipment to be illegal, make sure you are 100% correct. When we enforce the wrong rules regarding equipment we lose all credibility with the coaches. By the way, yellow gloves are legal. Towels must be one color/any color but must be the same color worn by any member of the same team. Hint – white works really well.
Alignment Problems – Clean them up early. We ask that you make corrections in the first series, get the information to the coach, and then penalize if necessary after that. Do we extend that same courtesy later in the game? We are now in week 5 and teams are beginning to deal with injuries. Second and third team players may be entering a game following an injury and we may judge that the same correction is applicable in this situation as well. Make sure the coach is notified.
Errors in Judgement – If you are honestly evaluating yourself on HUDL, then you most likely have seen yourself making an error in judgement. There are three things I recommend you do when this happens. 1) Check your mechanics – Were you in the right spot to make the correct call? If not, fix your mechanics. 2) Slow down in your decision making – You have much more time than you think to make decisions on the field. Slow down, go slower, then slow down some more! 3) Have a crew chief look at the call – don’t settle for anyone but one of our association’s best to review your call!
Goal Line Mechanics – Review them this week before your game as a crew. Work them hard in your JV game and apply your best to the varsity game. Get to the goal line. Stay wide (3-4 yards!) See the forward progress, close hard and sell the call is a big, strong signal. If you do not see the ball keep closing until you get more information (picking up sight of the ball as you close, or getting information from the umpire “I have the ball!”)
Missing Equipment and Time Outs – One crew found missing knee pads on a place kicker and a wide receiver. The umpire sent them off the field to get their illegal equipment repaired (would take more than 25 seconds). Coach asked if he could take a time out and keep the players in the game. The time out was granted, the equipment repaired /made legal during the time out and the two players were ready to go after the time out. Good job!
Unsportsmanlike Conduct – Please remember the basic differences between unsportsmanlike and personal fouls. Unsportsmanlike are non-contact fouls like taunting or excessive celebrations. A personal foul is a contact foul such as unnecessary roughness or blocking a player clearly out of the play. All unsportsmanlike fouls are enforced from the succeeding spot. My example last week was the player taunting his opponent at the 5 yard line as he struts into the end zone. The score counts and the penalty is enforced at the succeeding spot (the offended coach chooses either the PAT or kick off ). This enforcement will also be used in overtime. So, if the soon to be winning team struts and taunts into the endzone with the winning touchdown, a flag for unsportsmanlike will be thrown, but there will be no succeeding spot for enforcement. Game is over.
Off Season Clinics – Thank you, John Gill III, for the following list of clinics available for high school officials. Every official who has attended one of these clinics has returned a better official. Check them out, and go with a fellow SDCFOA official!
