Be the Referee: Play Clock Experiment
September 1, 2016
This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl explains the 40-second game clock Michigan football schools are allowed to try this fall.
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 – Play Clock Experiment - Listen
From time to time, the MHSAA receives permission from the national rules making body, the National Federation of State High School Associations, to experiment with a new rule. This fall in high school football, Michigan schools can experiment with a 40-second play clock. In this experiment, the 40-second play clock begins at the end of the previous play, giving teams consistency from week to week when the offense can next snap the ball.
With using the traditional 25-second play clock, it really depends on the referee of the game in terms of the pace on how quickly the offenses can go.
Past editions
Aug. 25: Clipping in the Free Blocking Zone - Listen
Soccer Hall of Famer Seitz, NFL Analyst Pereira Headline Officiate Michigan Day 2026
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 14, 2026
Officiate Michigan Day 2026 will welcome more than 1,000 Michigan High School Athletic Association-registered game officials July 25 to DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, where they will receive knowledge and instruction from several high-profile voices headlined by recent National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee Kari Seitz – a Brighton High School graduate – and one of television’s most recognizable rules analysts, Mike Pereira.
Officiate Michigan Day is designed to benefit officials with any level of experience, veteran to beginner. High-profile clinicians representing several sports and all levels including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA, FIFA and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) will provide face-to-face training during four sport-specific breakout sessions throughout the conference.
Pereira, a past collegiate and NFL football official who also has served as the NFL’s vice president of officiating, will present the opening address at 9 a.m. He has provided his knowledge during FOX Sports football broadcasts since 2010, explaining rules scenarios on-air as situations unfold in-game.
Seitz, also a graduate of Michigan State University, refereed Women’s World Cups in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 and Olympics tournaments in 2004, 2008 and 2012, and will deliver the conference’s closing message. She’s currently the vice president of refereeing for U.S. Soccer and formerly served as FIFA’s heading of refereeing.
This will be the third Officiate Michigan Day, joining events in 2013 and 2018. OMD 2026 will accompany the annual National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) Summit that will take place July 26-28, also at DeVos Place.
Officials may continue to register on the Officials page. Cost is $50. Additional details, including the full lineup of speakers and clinicians, also is available at that link.