High School Football Referee Guide

Well hello everyone…welcome back to my Football Blog.    If you are like most high school football officials (including me!), this is the most exciting time of the year.

If you are a veteran official or someone with a desire to become a new official there is much to do and learn.  There are many things you can and should be doing to prepare for the season ahead.  Read on for tips and ideas for new and seasoned officials.

Tips for beginning your career as a high school football official

If you have a desire to become a high school football official then please contact your local youth football associations – these associations are great places to start. They can tell you how your local organizations work and give you specific information about meetings or opportunities to meet other officials.

If you already know any high school officials, ask them to help you find out how to contact your high school officials association to learn more about how to get started.  As a new official you can and should be learning rules, positioning, and mechanics about being an official from other officials or on your own using rule books and materials available through your local association.  Many local football organizations may offer to teach you the fundamentals of becoming a football official – one-on-one training will give you such valuable experience. Find a mentor in the organization if you can.

You can contact NFHS about rule books or acquire them from your associations if needed.

Tips for veteran high school football officials

If you are a veteran official, by now you should have started doing the following:

• Studying your rule books (https://nfhs-football.arbitersports.com/front/105409/Site ) and points of emphasis for the year.  NFHS members can use the above link for football publications – rules, case studies, and officials’ books.
• Taking inventory and ordering new gear if needed, flags, hats, score cards, etc.  I do this every year about 1 ½ months prior to the first game.  Do this early because many times certain items may become back ordered if you wait too late.  There are many sites to order gear from:  http://www.ump-attire.com, http://www.honigs.com, http://www.cliffkeen.com just to name a few.
• Checking your scheduled games and knowing where you will be the first few games.  Many associations use websites for scheduling – find out the website of your association and learn to use it. Also, it’s helpful to know who your assigner is in case you have questions about your schedule.

If you are part of a crew you should have already started to meet together to talk about:

• Gear – what color pants will everyone use this year on your crew or in your association, etc.
• Rules and the NFHS test in your state (certification required test). Studying and knowing the rules – everyone needs to have a solid understanding about the fundamentals of officiating.
• Special situational plays – golden rule – if you talk about a squirrelly play – chances are chance will give you this same play somewhere in a game this year – so talk about those crazy situations prior to the season and during your pregame talks.

This is just a short list of things that you should be or probably have been doing as an official by now. If not then you need to get started with these items as soon as possible!

Thanks for reading and check in again soon for my next blog post which will give you even more tips for veterans and new football officials.

Till then, here’s a five yard delay-of-game penalty for ya!

So you’ve gotten to the point of joining your local high school football association or a youth recreation league – now what?   Well there are a few things to start considering:

Crawling first – basic fundamentals
Rules
Seeking out a mentor – Learn and Learn some more
Equipment

Crawling first – basic fundamentals:
There’s an old saying “You gotta crawl before you walk”.   What this means is:  take things slow.    Learn as much as possible as you go.   This is true for officials of any sport. Here are some ideas to get you started:

> Read your rule books, then read them again
> Talk to other officials for advice, attend meetings, become active in your local sports organizations
> Understand that player safety comes first ALWAYS – no ifs ands or buts.  If a player hurts another player illegally you always call the penalty regardless of the bearing on a play.

If there is bad weather – heat, lighting, etc. – always keep player safety your top priority.  On extremely hot days always call for ‘Water In’ during time outs, or as needed.

This next one is strictly my own opinion – but I treat players like I would any of my own kids – If I think a player doesn’t seem right after a play (this could be due to heat, or a really hard hit) – I always ask that player “Are you ok?”.   If I don’t like the response in any way – I will ask the coach to consider taking a player out for a play to be checked. Or I take an officials’ time out for that player to be checked.

Understand these basics about making calls:

>  Be sure of all of the calls you make.  If you are unsure of a call – then don’t make the call,  unless it is a player safety call.>  Always get a number and say the penalty and number in your head, “I have holding on 47 red (defense)”, and repeat it, “I have holding on 47 red.”   Learning to do this helps you when you have to communicate the call the to the referee or other crew members.

>  Watch your whistle usage.  Be slow on your whistle, not late, just a fraction slow – yes coaches may complain that “‘players are taught to play until they hear the whistle”. This is so untrue – the whistle does not end the play. The play action ends the play.  Don’t blow your whistle if you don’t see the ball. Nothing is worse than killing a play when a play still has a live ball in possession.  And if you ever blow an inadvertant whistle – own it, to yourself and your crew.   Everyone (yes, even officials in the NFL!) blows a call once in a while.   Learn from it and move on.

>  Stay in your zone.  Don’t blow your whistle if the play is not in your zone or throw a penalty on what you ‘think’ is a penalty from too far a distance.  This doesn’t mean that if you clearly see a penalty that you should ignore it.  It just means use good judgement and stay in your zone. That is why there’s more than one official on the field – everyone has their own job, but all of us are responsible.

Learn Your High School Football Rules:

What most people see on Sundays (NFL football) is so different than most of the rules at the high school or youth level.   For instance:
>  Know the differences between offense off sides (false start) and defense off sides (encroachment). No one can false start on the offense and no one can jump in the neutral zone where the ball lays.

>  Learn what pass interference is – it is separation or a physical advantage gained by either player.  At the high school level – there is no such thing as an ‘uncatchable ball’.  Pass interference is pass interference.
>  Intention grounding is intentional grounding – there is no ‘outside the tackles’.

>  Read your rules as often as possible and then reread them as often as possible.  It is a disservice to your crew and the teams if you do NOT know the rules and are not able to explain your calls.

Seek out a mentor – find someone in your high school football association that is well respected and that you think you can become friends with.  Ask them for advice. There are many tales and stories and lessons that you can learn from a mentor.  A mentor can teach you so very much – proper position, guidance, what to avoid, what to expect, etc.

And finally….about those stripes!

Last year I wrote an article about what equipment you’ll need to get started.   You can check it out here..

So until next time…..here’s a five yard delay of game penalty for ya!   Thanks for checking out my blog…