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
Be the Referee: Protocols & Mechanics
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 26, 2021
“Be the Referee” is back for 2021-22 with MHSAA assistant director Brent Rice explaining how rules have reverted or been modified due to last year’s COVID-19 adjustments.
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 – Protocols and Mechanics – Listen
Other than a few select instances, all MHSAA protocols, procedures and playing rules have returned to what they were pre-COVID.
This means that football team boxes will return to the area between the 25-yard lines, traditional ball-handling and other officials mechanics will return in all sports and postgame handshakes will be permitted as each school sees fit.
Additionally, there will be some rules modifications that were adopted during the pandemic that will likely be kept as part of the normal playing rules moving forward. The one that stands out for this upcoming fall season is that in volleyball, teams will not switch benches or sides of the net unless the referee determines that a team is at a disadvantage due to the layout of the facilities and obstructions.