Be the Referee: Cheer Safety

January 30, 2020

This week, MHSAA officials coordinator Sam Davis explains how competitive cheer rules have been written to keep participants as safe as possible. 

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 - Cheer Safety - Listen

Cheerleaders – usually at the college level – get in the sports headlines whenever an accident occurs causing a serious injury. In Michigan, the sport of Competitive Cheer doesn’t make the news in that regard. Why?

Because this sport, created by Michigan schools, has built in safety guidelines for competition – including the proper matting, rules which prohibit dangerous stunts, and safety judges observing the routines whose responsibility is to detect, record and report safety violations when they occur and to penalize those who commit them. Middle school Competitive Cheer is more restrictive, allowing the focus to be on the fundamentals that will provide a safe foundation when these athletes transition into high school and beyond.

This format is exclusive to Michigan and just another way that high school sports take the extra step to make the games our athletes play as safe as they can possibly be.

Past editions

Jan. 23: Goaltending - Listen
Jan. 16: Wrestling Tie-Breaker - Listen
Jan. 9: Pregame Meeting - Listen
Dec. 19: Alternating Possession - Listen
Dec. 12: Ratings - Listen
Dec. 5: Video Review Success - Listen
Nov. 28: 
More Injury Time - Listen
Nov. 21: Football Review - Listen
Nov. 14: Sideline Safety - Listen
Nov. 7: Officials Playlist - Listen
Oct. 31: Most Important Line - Listen
Oct. 24: Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
Oct. 17: Catch Momentum - Listen
Oct. 10: Golf Rules Changes - Listen
Oct. 3: No Tackle Box - Listen
Sept. 26: You Make the Overtime Call - Listen
Sept. 19: Swimming Finishing Touch - Listen
Sept. 12: Curbing Gamesmanship By Substitution - Listen
Sept. 5: Football Safety Rules Changes - Listen
Aug. 29: 40-Second Play Clock - Listen

Be the Referee: Back Row Setter

By Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator

November 12, 2024

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 – Back Row Setter - Listen

We’re on the volleyball court for today’s “You Make the Call.”

Team A serves the ball over net. Team B’s number 9 passes, or bumps the ball up toward the net, where number 2 tips it over for a point.

But number 2 is a back row setter and moved to the front row on the serve.

Is this a legal play?

If you said it depends … you are correct.

A back row setter can move to the front row and play the ball over the net as long as the entire ball is NOT above the net.

If the ball is completely above the net, then the back row setter is not allowed to play it over the net from the front row.

Previous 2024-25 Editions

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