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!

High School Football Officials are always aware of player safety.  It is one of the most important aspects of the game.

But what about us?  Officials can and do get hurt during games.  In our local organization, several officials have been injured on the field in the last few seasons, including one badly broken arm last Friday night!   In order to minimize your risk, keep these points in mind:

Be Observant

Stay focused!  It’s not enough to be ready to officiate – always be prepared for different situations that could happen on the field or the sidelines in order to protect your own safety as an official.  Here are some of the key areas to be aware of:

Hazardous field conditions, i.e. wet or icy grass surfaces:

• potentially causing  cleats to become stuck when following plays
• potentially causing loose footing
• potentially causing sliding that could cause injury to you, other players, coaches
• potentially causing you to lose focus during plays

Side line interferences

• too many coaches or assistants on the sidelines -  do not be afraid to throw a sideline warning in order to control this
• coaches or assistants moving past the appropriate team box
• Be polite but firm in the following situations
  • statisticians roaming the sidelines
  • photographers getting in the way of players or officials
• Be alert for plays that may carry beyond the sideline and into team benches, etc.

Middle of the field situations

• Pay special attention to the following:
  • Plays developing around you
  • Players or actions that may potentially continue through your area
  • Possibility of getting stepped on in the playing area
  • Getting run into by players

After game situations

• Leave the field as a group as soon as the game is over
• Travel together when leaving the field and when heading into the locker rooms
• No one expects to be accosted – but always be observant for any disgruntled fan

More than once I have had to ask statisticians or photographers to ‘get out of the way’ when running down the sideline.  They want to be there – but the sideline is the area for the wings (linesman, line judge, coaches/assistants in their respective areas and the chain crew) to work.  You must have the ability to follow plays without being concerned about running into someone.    Yes you are looking out for player safety but also be cautious about your own safety during and after the game.

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

Hey, welcome back to the High School Referee Guide Blog!  A while back we talked about crew communication prior to the game. Let’s expand on that a little bit more today.  Some people think we just walk on the field and officiate the game, right?  Wrong!!    Today I will talk about the pregame routine and all the details we address as a high school football crew.

As a rule, we like to be on the field at least 35 minutes prior to kickoff time.  During this time members of the  crew should meet with each team’s head coach and follow these rules of communication: continue reading…

New high school football officials often ask for advice and I always tell them: Never stop learning from every experience. I believe that almost ALL games can be used as potential learning experiences. I try to learn something from key situations in games, from other officials (new or old), and from rule changes. Many officials will tell you that it is a good practice to write down your goals before the season starts regardless of how many years you’ve been officiating. continue reading…

The basics high school football rules for football officials, and some do’s and don’ts:

Well first off – this is just my opinion but here are some of the basics that I try to follow.

Player safety – the one thing I consider THE most important.   Always keep an eye out for player safety:

• Clipping
• Illegal blocks – chop blocks, block in the back, etc.
• Face masks/pulling of the helmet openings/or chin strap – with twisting of the helmet
• Unnecessary roughness – yeah it’s football – but an unnecessary hit to a player totally away from a play or a hit with intent to harm needs to be controlled continue reading…