Be the Referee: Cheer Safety
February 11, 2015
This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl explains how a safe environment is created for Michigan's competitive cheerleaders.
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 - Cheer Safety - Listen
Cheerleaders – usually at the college level - get in the sports headlines whenever an accident occurs causing a serious injury. In Michigan, the sport of Competitive Cheer doesn’t make the news in that regard.
Why? Because this sport, created by Michigan schools, has built-in safety guidelines for competition, including the proper matting, rules which prohibit dangerous stunts, and safety judges observing the routines, whose responsibility is to detect, record and report safety violations when they occur, and to penalize those who commit them.
This format is exclusive to Michigan and just another way that high school sports take the extra step to make the games our children play as safe as they can possibly be.
Past editions
Feb. 2 - Basketball PA Announcers - Listen
Jan. 26 - Wrestling Health Concerns - Listen
Jan. 19 - Basketball Physical Contact - Listen
Jan. 12 - Video Review Part 2 - Listen
Dec. 29 - Video Review Part 1 - Listen
Dec. 17 - Registration Part 2 - Listen
Dec. 10 - Registration Part 1 - Listen
Dec. 3 - Legacy Program - Listen
Nov. 26 - Sideline Management - Listen
Nov. 19 - 7-Person Mechanics - Listen
Nov. 12 - Blocking Below the Waist - Listen
Nov. 5 - Tournament Selection - Listen
Oct. 29 - Uncatchable Pass - Listen
Oct. 22 - Preparation for Officials - Listen
Oct. 15 - Automatic First Downs - Listen
Oct. 8 - Officials & Injuries - Listen
Oct. 1 - Overtime - Listen
Sept. 25 - Field Goals - Listen
Sept. 18 - Tackle Box - Listen
Sept. 11 - Pass Interference - Listen
Aug. 25 - Targeting - Listen
Be the Referee: Preparation for Officials
September 21, 2017
This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl explains how football officials also prepare all week for Friday's big games, while lending their talents to various levels every weekend.
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 – Preparation for Officials - Listen
Football is a game of preparation. During the week, the teams involved, the cheerleading squads and members of the marching band put in a great deal of work to be ready for Friday night. Officials are no different.
All across the state on Monday nights, referees attend local association meetings where they review film from the previous week’s game, talk about rules, coverages and mechanics, so that our team of officials are just as prepared and ready to go as the teams playing each and every Friday night.
In addition to Friday nights, many officials also work freshman and junior varsity games on Thursday, and will often work games on the weekend – whether it be small college all the way down to youth games – to give those young people on the field the best officiating possible.
Past editions
September 14: Always Stay Registered - Listen
September 7: Other Football Rules Changes - Listen
August 31: Pop-Up Onside Kicks - Listen
August 24: Blindside Blocks - Listen