Bangor MAFO Begins Using TheArbiter

Most people do not like change.  However, in our transition from our old system of sharing game assignments to using TheArbiter, I have been very pleased with the favorable response by our members.  TheArbiter allows officials to access school and fellow officials’ information while also providing a complete list of games.  Eventually the assigning and accepting of games will be very easy, but learning a new system can be difficult.  I must commend our two assigners, Alan Kochis and Tim Kenney, for their commitment and patience learning a system that isn’t always intuitive.  We have many little bugs to work out and some new features to explore including an online evaluation/feedback system, but I expect that by the end of our first season using TheArbiter, we will all look forward to next year when athletic administrators can enter their own games and be a more integral part of the system.  It is a great tool for them as well.

TheArbiter.net Logo

My favorite part as an official in the Arbiter system is the ability to adjust my “blocks” as my availability changes.  In the past when we sent in our availability for the entire season in early August, I never really knew my full availability.   Now I can make that last minute change in my availability so my assigner can use me to fill a last minute game vacancy.  Also, the assigner won’t have to call several people to find an available official.  Saying no to your assigner makes for a difficult and uncomfortable phone conversation.

We have an excellent group of people choosing to officiate football in the greater Bangor area.  The information and communication that TheArbiter provides along with this blog and increased email communication will help us build an effective learning community that may even result in fewer weekly meetings.   Maybe we can begin some online learning experiences!  What do you think?   Please share your thoughts by clicking on the add comment below.

Call to Master 5-Person Football Officiating

Thankfully, football officials’ associations here in Maine have slowly convinced many schools to hire five officials instead of the traditional four that have struggled to cover high school football for generations.  Frankly, four officials do not have enough eyes to enforce the rules as demanded by the NFHS rulebook.

After working many years with four officials, I have learned that when covering the running plays outside the tackles, there are times when dangerous blocks and/or facemask infractions could not be seen properly.   Passing and kicking plays also lack proper coverage in a game covered by four field officials.  Having worked several games on a 5-person crew, I now know that by studying five-person crew mechanics, discussing coverages in our meetings, and spending additional time in our pre-game conferences, we can begin to truly reap the benefits of having a sufficient number of officials to cover the game of football.

The Texas Association of Sports Officials–Football Division publishes an officials’ manual for a crew of five.  This document is very detailed (69 pages) and is revised annually.  I believe that this can be a very valuable resource for all officials who work on five-person crews.  Somehow I located a copy of this document online when looking for quality resources to share with fellow football officials here in this blog.  I will seek permission to share this manual here in the blog.

In the meantime, I hope our group here in Eastern Maine can refer to this one copy occasionally and slowly learn to cover situations as well as they do in Texas.  I believe that Texas high schools usee NCAA rules for their high school football (yes, everything is bigger in Texas, especially their football when compared to Maine).   Therefore, with rule difference we cannot follow instructions tied to the rules.  However, their directions on how to cover formations, various scrimmage plays, the kicking game, and special situations might be very helpful.

There is a reason that many officials from Texas move from high school to college and professional leagues (NFL, Arena Football, Canadian Football).  With a group putting this much work into its officials’ manual, you know they care very much about doing a quality job.  Let’s make an effort to learn from our officiating friends in Texas.  I suggest that a few of us find time to sit over the next few weeks to see what we can effectively teach as we work to improve our coverage of games assigned to 5-man crews.

Official 2008 NFHS Football Rule Changes

Click here to view the list of changes for high school football for the 2008 football season.

2008 NFHS Football Rule Changes Explained

Click on the following link to see the National Federation of High School’s official publication on this year’s football rules changes.

National Federation 2008 High School Football Rule Changes

http://www.nfhs.org/web/2008/02/2008_high_school_football_rules.aspx

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.