High School Football Referee Guide

It’s that time of year again:  Football season!

Fans, players, coaches and officials all look forward to this time of year.  Maybe you’ve thought about officiating /becoming a football referee.  Maybe you’ve said to yourself, “I mean how hard can this be? If these blind, senseless, people can make those calls and get paid to do it; well certainly so can I and I can do a better job, and people will think my calls are great.”  Maybe you think it’s that easy…..read on.

The act of  simply becoming an official is the easy part.  Becoming a good football official, who knows the rules, understands the mechanics, understands positioning,   and earns the respect of their peers – these are the hard parts of becoming an official.  Seriously – if you’ve ever thought about becoming an official – you may have asked some of the following questions:
continue reading…

Well, I never did get a chance to write a season wrap-up for this blog, but now is as good a time as any. Our varsity crew had a great year and we are all looking forward to working together again this fall. Hope you all enjoyed your season and learned a lot that you can take with you next year.

Oh, and I absolutely have to give a huge shout-out to the New Orleans Saints!!! Black and Gold Superbowl, huh???? I hope they play a game us Saints fans can be proud of….

Thanks to all of you who faithfully followed my blog this past year – I will be back again in the late summer with some new ideas and tips to share with my fellow football officials! Let me know if you have topics you’d like me to cover.

Enjoy the off-season everyone!

Watching game film – so just how good are you?

Do you think  your crew is good, great, or even perfect? If you think your crew is perfect, and that there is no room for improvement – pack up that whistle, flags, and stripes and retire.   But seriously, one of the ways a crew can get better is to watch film of your crew officiating a game.

You can  request a copy of the game film from the athletic director or head coach.  Thanks to a comment on this blog made by a fellow official, our crew started bringing  a blank DVD and a shipping envelope, addressed back to me with postage applied.  (thanks for the great tip, Jeff!)  We hand this to the coach or AD and ask for a copy of the game film. Then when it arrives we set up dinner at someone’s house  (the one with the best cook of course.  No not the officials – but one of the wives) and watch the game film together.

Everyone anticipates a really good display of their skills. Watching film helps each person to critique themselves and to offer advice to each other.  Prior to watching the game film we vow to not be nit picky.  We also decide to each take 1 – 3 things away from the film review that we can work on to get better individually.  This is a learning tool – you will be surprised at what you might or might not see your crew do.   You make your crew better by working to improve, listening to coaches, offering advice or asking for advice.  Watching game film is no different – it’s a learning tool for everyone.

Watching the game film:

• We find the good points to point out
• We also find the bad points
• We look for each other in proper position
• We look for stopping the clock
• We look for continuing officiating – it is very easy to stop officiating on a play
• We look for missed player actions – it is very easy to “Not” see a cheap shot or what appears to be a cheap shot
• It is also very helpful to slow down the action to see what you might or might not have called on a particular play.
• We critique our selves on measurements
  • running play coverage
  • position
  • action in and around each person’s zone
  • action that continues out of bounds
  • potential late hits
• Game film is also a great way to help you keep a log/journal of things you want to improve on each game, each play and each year.

In the end all of us want to get better and this is a great tool to utilize.

Till next time – here’s a five yard delay-of-game penalty for ya!

The season is going along really well….here are some pictures of a local Junior Varsity game I worked a couple days ago.

Last night our crew watched a game tape from last week’s varsity game. Next post I’ll talk about the value of reviewing game tapes.

It’s been another busy football week here in Northern Colorado! I have done a Jr. High or Jr. Varsity game pretty much every day this week. Last Saturday I had the opportunity to white-hat for a local youth league. The team I officiated for was 4th graders – they were so excited about playing football! I just loved watching their energy and enthusiasm. Doing these type of things in your community can really keep an official jazzed about the sport.

Four guys from our varsity crew are going on the road this afternoon to the Eastern Plains to officiate an 8 man game. We’ll take sandwiches and other “road food”. It will be a long day (2 1/2 hour drive each way!) but these rural schools have just as much interest in the games as the big name local high schools.

Remember, as an official, it’s not about always working big games or playoff games….it’s about the kids and the athletic programs and the loyal fans at the schools no matter how big or small. Keep a good attitude and enjoy your officiating at EVERY game…

till next time…..

What a week! I have had a Jr. High or Jr. Varsity football game every day this week so I’m behind in my blogging. Meanwhile, here are some pictures taken at yesterday’s Jr. Varsity game between two local rival schools. (the home team won!). Our crew’s first real Varsity game is tomorrow. Looking forward to working with the guys!

The 2009 High School Football Season is Underway!!

Sorry for the delay in posting – I have been up to my eyeballs serving as white-hat for Jr. High games while waiting for my varsity game season to start on the 5th of September!   Also there are weekly football association meetings to attend and I’m still officiating for a softball league at work.   whew – there are not enough hours in the day!

Anyway as you all know, this time of the year is especially busy so bear with me and I’ll try to update this blog as often as I can with useful information for the High School Football Official. Let me know if there is something you’d like me to cover in a future blog post.

Now, let’s talk about high school football official crew communication continue reading…

Here are some first steps you should take in your journey to becoming a football official (also known as a football ref):

1. Almost every area or school district has a local official’s association which meets during the football season to network, discuss rules, field mechanics and philosophy.  To find out about football official’s associations in your area, call your school district office and they can give you more information.   Also check your local youth leagues and recreational football leagues for information.
2. Attend games in your area and talk to the officials after the game and find out how they got started and who to contact for more information.
3. Volunteer to help with pre-season scrimmages and/or junior high level games.   There is always a need for officials at that level and the games can provide you with valuable experience as well as a chance to get to know the local coaches and other officials.
4. Ask if your association has a formal or informal mentoring program.  These programs are designed specifically to provide new refs an opportunity to learn from veteran officials.   Likewise, if you are a veteran official be sure to extend your hand to new refs to answer questions and welcome them to the group.   Remember – everyone starts at the beginning!