Be the Referee: Basketball Replay

December 26, 2015

This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl explains the use of instant replay in basketball only for MHSAA Semifinals and Finals.

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 - Basketball Instant Replay - Listen

When watching a college or NBA game, the last 2 minutes of the game can seem like they take forever, especially in recent years where more and more judgment calls made by officials are subject to instant replay.

At the high school level, video is not used to make a ruling or confirm or overturn a call made during the course of the contest. The only time video review is used at the high school level is at the MHSAA Semifinal and Final games held at the Breslin Center. In these games, video review can be used only to determine if a shot was released in time at the end of the 4th quarter or overtime or if that shot in those periods was a 2-point or 3-point field goal when the shot is released near the 3-point line.

The MHSAA believes that this very limited use of replay in these games at the very end of the tournament series in boys and girls basketball is the right call.

Past editions:
Dec. 17: Basketball Communication - Listen
Dec. 10: Basketball Excessive Contact - Listen
Nov. 26: Pregame Communication - Listen
Nov. 19: Trick Plays - Listen
Nov. 12: 7-Person Football Mechanics - Listen
Nov. 5: Make the Call: Personal Fouls - Listen
Oct. 29: Officials Demographics - Listen
Oct. 15: Make the Call: Intentional Grounding - Listen
Oct. 8: Playoff Selection - Listen
Oct. 1: Kick Returns - Listen
Sept. 24: Concussions - Listen
Sept. 17: Automatic First Downs - Listen
Sept. 10: Correcting a Down - Listen
Sept 3:
Spearing - Listen
Aug. 27: Missed Field Goal - Listen

Be the Referee: Soccer Penalty Kick

By Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator

September 16, 2025

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 – Soccer Penalty Kick - Listen

We have a soccer “You Make the Call” for you today.

A player is lined up to take a penalty kick. His shot gets past the keeper and hits the post, rebounding back to him. Since the keeper dove to stop the shot, he has a wide-open net, and calmly sends his second attempt straight to the back of the net.

Good goal?

It is not. After a penalty kick is taken, the kicker can only play the ball again after the goalie or another player touches it. A ball kicked off the post and directly back to the original kicker cannot be played.

In this instance, the goal is not awarded, and the defending team is given an indirect free kick at the spot of the infraction.

If the original P-K had glanced off the keeper first, then hit the post and back to the original kicker who scored, then it would have counted.

Previous 2025-26 editions

Sept. 9: Forward Fumble - Listen
Sept. 2: Field Hockey Basics - Listen
Aug. 26: Golf Ball Bounces Out - Listen