Officiate Michigan Day 2026 - Register to Join Us!
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 19, 2026
Officiate Michigan Day 2026 will welcome 2,000 MHSAA-registered game officials to Grand Rapids on July 25 – and registration is available now for this historic gathering expected to draw participants from all over the state.
Doors open at 7:30 a.m., with the first session at 9 a.m. at DeVos Place. The day-long event will feature dynamic speakers and presenters providing knowledge in several sports and all levels including collegiate and professional. We will be highlighting several of those speakers over the next many weeks on MHSAA.com and social media as part of the lead-up to the event.
Cost is $45 if officials register by the end of June, and $50 beginning July 1. More information is on the way; keep posted at MHSAA.com/OMD.
This will be the third Officiate Michigan Day, joining events in 2013 and 2018.
OMD will accompany the annual National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) Summit that will take place July 26-28, also at DeVos Place.
Be the Referee: Golf Relief
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator
April 30, 2025
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 – Golf Relief - Listen
Your tee shot lands on the cart path. I know you are used to playing from the middle of the fairway, so you may not know what your options are when this happens. You think you are entitled to relief, so you drop your ball one club-length to the side of the path – closer to the hole.
Is this allowed?
No.
Because a cart path is an immovable obstruction, you are entitled to relief. But your drop can’t occur closer to the hole. That’s called improper relief and is a one-stroke penalty.
You are allowed to drop the ball within one club-length of the nearest point of complete relief, no closer to hole. There is no penalty in this instance.
Of course, the best relief is to continue hitting your drives to the middle of the fairway.
Previous 2024-25 Editions
April 22: Soccer Scoring Area Penalty - Listen
April 15: Fair or Foul? - Listen
April 8: Girls Lacrosse New Stoppage Rule - Listen
April 1: Base Runner Interference - Listen
March 25: Pine Tar Usage - Listen
March 11: Basketball Replay - Listen
March 4: Gymnastics Deduction - Listen
Feb. 25: Competitive Cheer Inversion - Listen
Feb. 18: Ice Hockey Delay of Game - Listen
Feb. 11: Ski Helmets - Listen
Feb. 4: Wrestling In Bounds or Out? - Listen
Jan. 21: Block or Charge? - Listen
Jan. 14: Out of Bounds, In Play - Listen
Jan. 7: Wrestling Scoring - Listen
Dec. 17: Bowling Ball Rules - Listen
Dec. 10: Neck Laceration Protector - Listen
Dec. 3: Basketball Goaltending - Listen
Nov. 26: 11-Player Finals Replay - Listen
Nov. 19: 8-Player vs. 11-Player Football - Listen
Nov. 12: Back Row Setter - Listen
Nov. 5: Football OT - Listen
Oct. 29: Officials Registration - Listen
Oct. 22: Volleyball Serve - Listen
Oct. 15: "You Make the Call" - Soccer Offside - Listen
Oct. 8: Roughing the Passer - Listen
Oct. 1: Abnormal Course Condition - Listen
Sept. 25: Tennis Nets - Listen
Sept. 18: Libero - Listen
Sept. 10: Cross Country Uniforms - Listen
Sept. 3: Soccer Handling - Listen
Aug. 24: Football Holding - Listen