SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION THE WEEKLY BULL - JULY 27, 2022 1st& 2ndYear Officials Meet This Week at Mira Mesa High School – Keep up the excellent attendance. Scrimmages are 3-weeks away. See you This Wednesday 7/27 at 7:00 pm at Mira Mesa High School Certified Officials’s Clinic for Umpires - This Wednesday July 27th at 7:00pm on zoom. Our guest presenters will be Ed Blick, Mike Gunzelman and Scott Carroll. Here is the invitation to join: SDCFOA Umpire Clinic – Wednesday, July 27th - 7:00 PM https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81878423170?pwd=Uy9sMUZJTmxBU1JZR1lPbXhKNTZSUT09 Meeting ID: 818 7842 3170 Passcode: 822374 One tap mobile +12532158782 Recruiting T-Shirts - Anyone who did not receive a recruiting message T-shirt and would like to get one may contact Terry Bernard at the August 3rd meeting. Terry is in room 710. Only L and XL shirts are available. Frank Alfano Overtime Award - Please go to the website at sdcfoa.org and fill out an Over Time award survey. All members should fill out this survey regardless of experience or if you have filled one out in the past. Simply go into the website and click on the "Awards" heading at the top of the page. Then click on the "Frank Alfano Over Time Award". Scroll down to "Fill Out the Survey" and click again. Complete the survey before submitting. The Frank Alfano Over Time Award recognizes members of our Association who exemplify merit and achievement both on and off the football field. We want to know about and recognize the great things our members are doing for our local community and the country. So please tell us what you do. What you have done to serve in the past. Your military or public safety service. Your philanthropy or volunteer activities. Anything that you do to make our Association look good! Assignments Week #1 & Week #2 – Tom is waiting for the conferences to move games in each conference to either a Thursday or a Saturday. We should know within a week so Tom can make some quick adjustments and publish the assignments. Thank you for your patience as the coaches work this out with their schools. Recruiting – Last day to recruit is our August 4th meeting. After that, they can always join but no guarantee of game assignments. There just won’t be enough time to even get them prepared for the scrimmages. So, give it one more try to recruit new member! Thank you! Reporting Fouls – Every crew should discuss how they will be reporting fouls to the referee! Practice your reporting sequence. Remember to be calm and complete in your report. In all cases the report must include: The result of the play The interval of the foul (during the run, pass, kick; after the interception/fumble etc.) The foul The player’s number The Team (offense, defense, return team, recovering team, intercepting team, etc.) Spot of the foul On-Line Mechanics Exam – The 2022 Mechanics Qualifying Exam will be put on-line on Sunday, July 31st and must be completed by the following Sunday, August 7th. This will give officials to get organized (by crew or with your instructor) as you work together to review the test and then submit individually. If you are not on a crew then your lead instructor is the person who can work with you in completing the test. Lead instructors, please check your roster and reach out to those not attached to a crew. Zoom format works well for this task. Please respond to Scott Carroll if you are a crew chief and you get an email from him around the 31st! Please help Scott out! 2022-2023 FOOTBALL GAME OFFICIALS MANUAL POINTS OF EMPHASIS COMMUNICATION BETWEEN COACHES AND GAME OFFICIALS Football is an emotional game, due not only to the amount of physical contact between players but also to the competitive spirit ingrained in most players and coaches. Game officials and coaches must recognize the passion and intensity inherent in the game and manage their interactions in a way that avoids stoking the fire of emotional response to game situations. Game officials must recognize their role in the game: to provide a service to the coaches and players in an unemotional and impartial manner. Game officials must always be respectful and maintain a calm demeanor in their comments to coaches, especially when tension is high. Game officials must avoid the urge to respond in kind to coaches who are vocal in their disagreement of the judgment of game officials. The game official’s job is to de-escalate the tension and explain the decision in a concise and matter-of-fact manner. This is difficult to do, especially when a coach is screaming at a game official. In those cases, the game official must actively listen to what the coach is saying and then respond factually and unemotionally. Game officials must anticipate game situations where coaches will be upset and pre-emptively diffuse the situation. This requires strong communications skills and empathy and understanding of the coach’s perspective. A game official should never threaten the coach with consequences for their behavior, nor should a game official become defensive. If a coach crosses the line, then the game official’s option is to flag the coach for unsportsmanlike conduct. However, throwing a flag should be a last resort. A better approach is to clearly and calmly tell the coach that the comments or behavior are unacceptable, and that it’s difficult to focus on the action on the field if the coach is repeatedly distracting the game official. Coaches must understand that their behavior has a profound impact on their players. Players tend to behave the way their coaches behave. If coaches show little respect for game officials and make derogatory comments, players will likely treat game officials similarly. Coaches should win gracefully and lose with dignity. Coaches must also understand that the football field is an extension of the classroom and must set a strong example for their players to follow. This includes respecting the decisions of game officials even when they disagree, and handling disagreements in a civil and dignified manner. This doesn’t mean that coaches must accept everything that occurs during the game without emotion. Rather, it means that if there is a disagreement, any discussion with game officials regarding that disagreement should 2 be constructive and respectful, not confrontational. Handling any disagreement in a businesslike manner teaches players good sportsmanship, which is a perennial focus of the NFHS. By communicating respectfully, both game officials and coaches will leave with a positive experience. Neither game officials nor coaches do their jobs for the money; rather, they do it because of their love of the game. Through coaches’ and game officials’ behavior toward each other, players will learn a valuable life lesson regarding how to handle conflict. TARGETING / DEFENSELESS PLAYER The NFHS Football Rules Committee feels coaches, game officials and players have all worked together to recognize and remove most targeting fouls from the game, but considerable work still needs to be done understanding/penalizing illegal defenseless player contact. As stakeholders in the game, removing needless contact from football should be prioritized by coaches, game officials and players. Targeting is an act by any player who takes aim and initiates contact against an opponent above the shoulders with the helmet, forearm, hand, fist, elbow or shoulders. A defenseless 3 player is a player, who, because of his physical position and focus of concentration, is especially vulnerable to injury. For added defenseless player clarification, please refer to 2.32.16 COMMENT in the 2022 NFHS Football Case Book. Since defenseless players are especially vulnerable to potential injury, coaches should use video, on-field demonstrations, and establish zero tolerance of this illegal contact during practice and games to help players realize the importance of contacting players legally. Game officials must have a clear understanding of the guidelines for defenseless player contact (Rule 9-4-3g). They must diligently observe all action and watch for illegal contact against players who are deemed defenseless. Any player contacting a defenseless player is responsible to make legal contact. Game officials must draw a distinction between contact necessary to make a legal block or tackle and that which is excessive. When there is a question in the game officials’ mind about the severity of contact, the contact should be deemed excessive. Legal contact is required by players at all times. It is imperative that players have a clear understanding of what contact is acceptable and be able to recognize when players are considered defenseless. Players must realize that when contacting any player, the responsibility for making legal contact resides with the person making the contact. Forceful contact that is avoidable should be considered unnecessary. To ensure the long-term success of high school football, risk minimization must remain a priority for all stakeholders of the game. Coaches, game officials and players must understand the importance of removing unnecessary contact from the game. A concerted effort must be made by all to eliminate targeting and illegal defenseless player contact from football. LEGAL UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT The purpose of the NFHS Football Equipment Rules is to ensure the safety and protection of both the player wearing the equipment and their opponent. Due to the potential for injury, it is essential that game officials strictly enforce equipment rules and that coaches support that enforcement. The head coach is primarily responsible for the legality of a team’s equipment. Prior to the start of each game, the head coach must verify to the referee and another game official that all players are legally equipped in compliance with the rules and that no illegal equipment will be used. Most equipment violations can be prevented by the coaching staff communicating the equipment rules to players prior to the teams arriving at the game. During pregame duties, game officials should take time to spot-check players for illegal or improperly worn equipment and alert players and coaching staffs of any potential violations. Game officials should not allow any players to participate until all equipment issues have been resolved. Prior to the ball becoming live, game officials through normal observations should verify that each player is properly and legally equipped. If a player is observed to not meet proper equipment rules, the play clock should be stopped and the equipment violation addressed. 4 Different rules will apply to enforcement depending if the stoppage was for illegal, improperly worn or missing equipment. Unless halftime or overtime intermission occurs, any time the play clock is interrupted for improperly worn or missing equipment by a player, the player is to be removed from the game for at least one play. Examples of improperly worn equipment include but are not limited to: Knee pads that do not cover the player’s knees; shoulder pads that are not fully covered by the jersey; undershirts not tucked in that extend below the top of the waistline of the pants; and failure to wear a tooth or mouth protector. If any equipment becomes improperly worn during play, correction must be made before continued player participation is allowed. The player would not be required to be removed from the game if the repair can be made promptly and does not delay the ready for play by more than 25 seconds. Any time a player is found participating with illegal equipment, the player is to be removed from the game and the head coach should be penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. Examples of illegal equipment include but are not limited to: Eye shade that is not a solid stroke or includes words, numbers, logos or other symbols; eye shields that are not clear (without the presence of any tint); play cards not worn on the wrist or arm; and uniform adornments (exemptions are legal towels and sweatbands properly worn).
