Official NFHS Football Officiating Documents

The National Federation makes many documents readily available to the the world. Sometimes it is a bit difficult for some to find these so I hope this listing and availability is helpful to all of you. The following are links to the NFHS documents on the National Federation website which should download the .pdf files directly to your computer when you click on each link below. Name and save them to your computer for future reference. We are excited to see how many people take advantage of looking at materials that they might never have taken time to check out.

Football Field Diagram

Officials’ Signals #1

Officials’ Signals #2

Football Line to Gain Instructions

Football Clock Operator Instructions

2008 NFHS/NCAA Rules Differences

NFHS 3-Official Football Manual

The 3-official manual will no longer be part of the NFHS officiating manual.  However, here is the link to download a copy for your records.  Many football associations across the country officiate sub-varsity and middle school games with only three officials.  For this reason, I believe that having consistent mechanics will result in better officiating and consistency so coaches and parents will have more time to focus on their work and not ours.  Download this free copy with NFHS permission by clicking below.

NFHS 3-Person Officiating Manual Download–Click Here!

Download Your Copy Now

Trained, “Focused” Eyes & the Need for an Additional Official

As a sports official, one the most important skills that we need to develop and constantly maintain is the ability to focus on the player activity that is assigned to us per recommended mechanics.  Trained eyes make it possible to see most of what we are supposed to see so we can properly officiate our games.

This following video helps me make my point about “focus” and the need for additional officials.  How did you do?  Could you count the number of passes by the white team?  How aware are you of what happened.  Please take time to read the rest of this blog entry after watching the video.

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Most officials will agree that at the high school level in most sports, we would benefit greatly by having an additional official.  The way that basketball has changed over the years (esp. 3-point line and motion offenses), we can serve the game best by having three (3) officials.  In football, officials cannot cover some blocking infractions and actions against receivers without five (5) officials.  In baseball, we can cover a game best with three (3) which allows umpires to move into the outfield to rule on catches, accurately rule on base-touching and fair-foul balls, and have the ability to create good angles and be close enough to plays.  Hockey also needs to move from two to three (3) officials.  When you are focused on a potential off-sides call, you are not capable of seeing the whole play related to a possible penalty call.

However, given the financial times and some resistance to additional officials amongst some of our coaches and athletic administrators, we must try to do our best with one less set of eyes.   This makes our pre-game conferences and adherance to prescribed mechanics even more important.   We must know our responsibilities and strictly follow required mechanics.  These mechanics (positioning, signals, and use of the voice/whistle) determine how we view and rule upon what we see.  We all know that we make hundreds or even thousands of rulings during each contest we officiate, only to  interrupt games (making calls) at appropriate times.

Some officials quickly and easily learn what to focus on early in their officiating careers.  Others take a great deal of time to properly train their eyes.  Some never master this part of officiating.  “Focus” is very important but we must be careful not to focus our eyes or our mind too much on one or more concerns.  Looking for that illegal screen/block or holding (basketball, football, and hockey) can sometimes avert our focus from seeing the entire play that is often necessary.   With an additional official, you may be able to focus on one thing (and sometimes the mechanics provides for this).

When we say to ourselves/others that we would like to see that play again, do you think we might have focused in on something a little bit too much?  I know that I have been caught by this many times.  Now that it has come to my attention, I know that I need to add this comment and thought to my pre-game preparation checklist.

Appeal for On-Field Improvement Suggestions

This morning via email I finally got around to requesting some information from local officials to help one another improve their work.  I want everyone to think back over our past season(s) of officiating football games and reflect upon your experiences.  I want a good list of comments (constructive criticisms) of self and fellow officials that we can share here for all to look over now and when we get ready for next season.   These comments should not include names as this blog will not ever allow anyone to embarrass or discredit fellow officials or coaches in this blog.

The emailed request also asked:

•  What do you think is the single most important aspect of football officiating?  It takes a whole package of skills and knowledge, but what can you pinpoint as being most important to officiating success?
• What are your goals (personal and local association) for next season?

Please feel free to post your feelings here.  You will need to register with wordpress sharing your name and email address.  This keeps the anonymous readers from blasting officials.  (Note: Do not request your own blog as it may further confuse you when you log in to respond in the blog.)

If it is easier or you prefer to do so, email your comments, suggestions, and goals to ShawnKball@gmail.com or kimballs@glenburnschool.us.

Upcoming Ratings System Vote

The ratings committee has spent the past year working out some changes mostly pertaining the rating of fellow officials.  Next Tuesday September 4th, there will be a handout and brief discussion of the suggested changes to our ratings system.  Click on the link below to download the new proposed criteria and related explanations.

Fellow Official Evaluation Changes

Along with these potential changes, we also hope to put in place a system to solicit positive feedback along with constructive criticism.  We will share general comments here in the blog and try to include specific comments on your annual rating sheets.