The Official View: Winter Wonderland
By
Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
November 12, 2018
By Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
In this week’s “Official View” we explain the important of insurance and offer a brief primer on how the MHSAA helps officials stay covered.
We also work through some rule scenarios in football, volleyball and swimming and take a look at a few of the wintery scenes braved not only by teams on the field and fans in the stands but officials in stripes as well.
It’s Official!
Most officials will go their entire lives without needing to utilize insurance coverage for something that occurred while officiating. In the often rough-and-tough world of school sports, though, the need for officials to protect themselves on and off the field has never been greater. While officiating is not considered a dangerous avocation, officials should prepare themselves for those one-in-a-million situations.
There are a variety of coverage options out there for officials, ranging from medical and loss of income coverage due to injuries sustained while officiating to liability coverage and legal fees. Officials, individually and through their associations, can purchase increased coverages that suit their needs.
The MHSAA continues to look out for the best interests of our registered officials in this area and in other ways. When officials annually register with the MHSAA, they are included in both a comprehensive liability plan and catastrophic medical coverage for incidents that occur during MHSAA contests. Major injuries due to officiating are rare, but it is nice to have the security that you’re covered in the event of some tragic event. Though the few lawsuits that officials are a party to are often summarily dismissed, the MHSAA’s liability coverage kicks in at dollar one, including any legal fees or attorney retainers.
We will be seeking your feedback in how we can best serve these interests as they pertain to increased insurance coverage, training and development and providing additional useful resources. We thank you for your input and continued commitment and dedication to the MHSAA and the Officials Program.
Rule of the Week
FOOTBALL It’s 4th-and-8 on Team K’s 35-yard line. R1 signals for a fair catch at Team R’s 40-yard line. R1 muffs the punt, and the ball is picked up by K5 at Team R’s 35. With no one else around, K5 runs into his end zone for an apparent touchdown.
Ruling: The ball is dead at the moment the muffed kick is possessed by Team K. The ball cannot be advanced. It will be 1st-and-10 for Team K on R’s 35.
It’s Your Call
VOLLEYBALL This week’s clip shows a back row player for Team S making a back row attack and then landing on the attack line. What’s the call?
Last Week’s IYC Ruling: Last week’s video shows a swimmer drifting into the lane divider before ultimately finishing first in the meet. This incidental contact with the lane divider is legal since she did not grab ahold or otherwise use the divider to pull herself through the water. (Click to see last week's video.)
Official View: Reffing in a Winter Wonderland
The first day of winter is scheduled for Dec. 21, but you wouldn’t know that by the weather from this past weekend’s football games.
Snow covered most of the state Friday and Saturday, even causing some teams to play in a couple of inches of the falling white stuff. Just like our teams, the officials braved the cold and flurries to ensure another great week of MHSAA football.
The top photo shows Thirlby Field during the Division 6 Regional Final between Traverse City St. Francis and Kingley.
The photo above and to the right is from the 8-Player Semifinal between host Rapid River and Cedarville. The crew, from left: Joel Mitrzyk, Mark Pieniozek, Jan Viliquette, Paul Binder and David Paananen.
Timeout to Appreciate Officials
September 23, 2013
By Kevin Wolma
Hudsonville athletic director
Wolma is in his third school year as athletic director at Hudsonville and previously coached basketball and golf. Below is a recent “30-second timeout” he wrote for the Hudsonville district newsletter.
We were five seconds away from one of the greatest upsets in the history of Caledonia basketball.
During the regular season, South Christian had beaten us by more than 30 points on two different occasions. The District Finals became the site for the third contest between the two schools on a warm March day.
We were able to slow them down just enough to stay within striking distance until late in the fourth quarter, when we finally took the lead for the first time. South Christian had one last chance with seven seconds left on the clock. After a timeout, they in-bounded the ball from the sideline and their player forced up a shot. I could see it was going to be short from my viewpoint, and my heart began to race with adrenaline as I could sense the impossible was going to become possible.
What happened next has stuck with me for the rest of my life, as one of the South Christian players pushed one of our players in the back, grabbed the rebound, and put the ball in the basket with one second left.
Game over. South Christian wins the District championship.
For the next eight years as a varsity basketball coach, I held a grudge against officials for that one call. Twelve years later, after I was done coaching, I went back and watched the game over again for the first time. I almost turned the video off when they in-bounded the ball in those last seven seconds because I did not want to relive that moment and the ensuing emotions that took place.
While watching I discovered something.
The South Christian player did not shove my player as much as I thought, and our players did not box out like I had thought, which made it easier for them to get the rebound and score. Looking back, did I even tell my players to box out during that last timeout before the ball was in-bounded?
At that moment it became very clear to me that what we see during a game may be clouded because we want our team to gain every advantage and every call in order for them to be successful. Perception is not reality. Officials are human. They will make mistakes just like the coaches and players do during a game.
There still has never been a game that has been decided by an official. Some people will say that the Class B Semifinal boys basketball game (in 2010) was decided on an official’s call when they ruled one of Forest Hills Northern’s player's foot was on the line on his last-second shot when in reality his foot clearly was behind the line. That call cost them a chance to play in the (MHSAA) Finals.
Coach Steve Harvey was quoted in the paper as saying, "We had opportunities to take care of the game before it even came down to that shot.” In the moment it seemed like that one play cost Forest Hills Northern the game, but there were over 50 possessions on offense and defense that preceded the play and potential outcome.
Having the opportunity to spend time with officials inside the locker room has made it very evident they are serious about their jobs and calling the best game they can. I have had requests from officials to have a monitor available to break down film an hour and a half before their contest begins to see strengths and weaknesses in their placement and mechanics from prior contests. I have had officials upset at halftime or after a game because they realized they made a mistake. I have had officials contact me personally after a game to apologize for a call made during the contest.
In the business world and also in education we use the word collaboration a lot. Officials collaborate before, during, and after every contest to garner more knowledge so they can continue to improve.
This is not even their full time job. Officials do what they do because they love the game and want to give back to the sport that made an impact on them.
The next time we are at a game and we think the officials missed a call, let’s take a 30-second timeout to gather our emotions so we do not say anything we will regret later. Instead let’s spend our energy cheering on our teams to be the best they can be.