High School Football Referee Guide

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…

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!