NASO, MHSAA Postpone Officials Summit

February 1, 2021

Second Half

The National Association of Sports Officials (NASO), in conjunction with the MHSAA, has made the decision to postpone the in-person Sports Officiating Summit that was scheduled to be held in July in Grand Rapids.

As Summit sites for the annual conference have already been determined for the years 2022-25, the Summit will return to Grand Rapids in 2026.

Additionally, the in-person events surrounding the Officiate Michigan Day scheduled for July 31 and Aug. 1 have been cancelled for this year. However, the MHSAA remains committed to providing Michigan officials a quality virtual event July 31, including many of the same sessions scheduled for the live event.

Those who have registered for OMD 2021 will be provided a refund over the coming weeks. More details regarding the virtual OMD will be released soon.

“While this is certainly disappointing news, we are more committed than ever to provide MHSAA officials with an excellent virtual, cost-free alternative,” MHSAA Assistant Director Brent Rice said. “We are already in development of a program that will include great officiating content and presenters and allow MHSAA officials to interact with one another and celebrate high school officiating in Michigan.”

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Be the Referee: Correcting a Down

September 10, 2015

This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl discusses how officials at the high school level have the authority to correct an error in what down is being played. 

Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Below is this week's segment - Correcting a Down - Listen



For anyone who has followed football for a long time, perhaps the most famous “5th down” game was back in 1990 between Colorado and Missouri. 

In that game, the officials mistakenly gave Colorado an extra down while trailing by four points. On the “fifth down” play, Colorado scored a touchdown on the final play of the game to win 33-31. 

Under high school rules, the officiating crew has the ability to correct an error of the wrong down as long as it is done before the next snap. For example, if the crew realizes a team has been given an extra down, that play would be nullified and the ball would correctly go over to the other team.

Past editions:
Sept 3: Spearing - Listen
Aug. 27: Missed Field Goal - Listen