The Official View: Eyes in the Sky
By
Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
September 10, 2018
By Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
Welcome to “Official View,” a weekly feature on the MHSAA’s Second Half website designed to deliver must-know information to Michigan’s 10,000 high school officials – while also showing administrators, athletes and fans a slice of the officiating life from those in the avocation.
Each edition will include a rule of the week, present an “It’s Your Call” segment, keep our officials up to date on important news and notices and provide a behind-the-scenes glance at officials making our games possible.
It’s Your Call
SOCCER In the video clip below, a player takes control of the ball in the area at the top of the goal box and behind two defending players and fires a shot toward the net. Is this player offside?
(Click the video play button below; you'll then need to click again to view on YouTube, starting at 2:20 and ending at 2:39.)
You make the call: No, the player is not offside. The ball was last played by an opponent – in this case through the air on a header – and the player receiving the ball only would’ve been off-side if receiving the ball from a teammate. Rule 11-4-1b (included paragraph).
Rule of the Week
VOLLEYBALL The right-side hitter on Team S spikes the ball to the opposing side floor for a point. As she comes back to the ground following her leap, she both strikes the net and steps completely across the center line. The ball touches the floor before the hitter lands.
Ruling: This is a legal point. In order for either violation to be called, the ball must still be in play.
It’s Official!
Deadline for Tournament Consideration Requirements: Both the 2018-19 Rules Meeting and the Sport Rules Exams must be completed by Sept. 13. Check your Rules Meeting and Rules Exam status on MHSAA.com by logging in, clicking “Official Services” and then selecting the links for Exams and Rules Meetings.
If you haven’t already, get your current season schedules into the MHSAA and confirm your MIGS (Member in Good Standing) status on the MHSAA website to make certain you are eligible for postseason consideration. You must complete all of the above requirements to ensure your eligibility.
Official View
In the photo at the top of this edition, pilot Dean Lefebrve flies his football crew to its Week 2 varsity game, Negaunee at Calumet. The crew also included, just above, Dean Nelson, Rich Lundholm, Paul Angeli and Andrew Lewis.
Finals Partners Now Long-Distance Friends Reunite to Officiate Together Again
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 15, 2025
Portland’s Tony Costello and Houghton’s Rob Fay first connected when officiating the 2022 Division 3 Boys Basketball Final together at the Breslin Center. They shared a meal after the game, met each other’s families and have kept in touch since – hoping to someday have another chance to work together again.
Living about 500 miles apart, the opportunities seemed limited. But last month, they made a long shot happen.
Fay also serves as Houghton’s athletic director and was scheduled to be in East Lansing on Dec. 11 for an MHSAA committee meeting. The trip also seemed like the possibility they’d been seeking to reunite.
Costello’s tournament partner Alex Schrauben put in a call to the Mid-Michigan Assignors Association to find out if there might be a game available – and trio ended up working the Dec. 10 boys basketball game at Alma against Beal City. Costello is in his 24th year as an MHSAA-registered official, while Fay is in his 22nd and Schrauben his 17th wearing the stripes and Schrauben also has recent Breslin experience as last season he officiated a Division 4 Semifinal.
The game was still much closer to the mid-Michigan pair – Fay ended up traveling more than 440 miles to get back home. But it might be just the first of the reunion tour, as Costello and Schrauben are hoping to make the trip across the Mackinac Bridge and work a game with Fay sometime in the future.
PHOTO From left: Rob Fay, Tony Costello and Alex Schrauben take a quick selfie during their meet-up to officiate a Dec. 10 boys basketball game at Alma. (Photo courtesy of Tony Costello.)