Be the Referee: Swimming Touchpads
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator
February 14, 2023
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 – Swimming Touchpads - Listen
We are in the pool today, nearing the end of our 100-yard freestyle race. To finish a race and record a time, a swimmer can either touch the touchpad or the finish end – i.e., the wall around the touchpad.
If the touchpad is contacted and a time recorded – great! That’s all the officials need.
But what happens if I hit the touchpad and the time doesn’t stop? Or if I touch the wall just above the touchpad? In these instances, the officials go to a backup timer. And the backup time for that swimmer will be used as the race time.
The backup timer operates for all races, but is only used in the event of a touchpad malfunction or a swimmer hitting the finish end. A majority of the time, it’s not even needed. But it’s good to have for instances like these.
Previous Editions:
Feb. 7: In or Out-of-Bounds in Wrestling - Listen
Jan. 31: Over the Back - Listen
Jan. 24: Competitive Cheer Judges - Listen
Jan. 17: More Lines - Listen
Jan. 10: On the Line - Listen
Jan. 3: Basketball Measurements - Listen
Dec. 13: Pregame Dunks - Listen
Dec. 6: Gymnastics Judges - Listen
Nov. 22: Football Finals Replay - Listen
Nov. 15: Back Row Illegal Blocker - Listen
Nov. 8: Swim Turn Judges - Listen
Nov. 1: Soccer Referee Jersey Colors - Listen
Oct. 25: Cross Country Tie-Breaker - Listen
Oct. 18: Soccer Shootouts - Listen
Oct. 11: Safety in End Zone - Listen
Oct. 4: Football Overtime Penalty - Listen
Sept. 27: Kickoff Goal - Listen
Sept. 20: Soccer Timing - Listen
Sept. 13: Volleyball Replays - Listen
Sept. 6: Switching Sides - Listen
Aug. 30: Play Clock - Listen
Aug. 23: Intentional Grounding Change - Listen
Be the Referee: Pregame Dunks
By
Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials
December 13, 2022
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 – Pregame Dunks - Listen
Both basketball teams are on the court warming up before the game starts. All three officials are on the floor, as teams are in their traditional lay-up lines.
In an attempt to get their fans fired up, a player for the home team dunks it when it’s his turn in line, followed by a teammate also dunking one.
Can they do that? What’s the call?
Once the officials are on the floor, as they are in this example, they should assess a technical foul to any player who dunks in pregame warmups. In this case, the visiting team would receive four free throws to start the game – two for each dunking violation – and would start with possession. The technical fouls would also count as personal fouls and count towards the team foul count. And the head coach would receive an indirect technical foul.
Dunking or grabbing the rim during warmups is not allowed.
Previous Editions:
Dec. 6: Gymnastics Judges - Listen
Nov. 22: Football Finals Replay - Listen
Nov. 15: Back Row Illegal Blocker - Listen
Nov. 8: Swim Turn Judges - Listen
Nov. 1: Soccer Referee Jersey Colors - Listen
Oct. 25: Cross Country Tie-Breaker - Listen
Oct. 18: Soccer Shootouts - Listen
Oct. 11: Safety in End Zone - Listen
Oct. 4: Football Overtime Penalty - Listen
Sept. 27: Kickoff Goal - Listen
Sept. 20: Soccer Timing - Listen
Sept. 13: Volleyball Replays - Listen
Sept. 6: Switching Sides - Listen
Aug. 30: Play Clock - Listen
Aug. 23: Intentional Grounding Change - Listen