Be the Referee: Kickoff Goal

By Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director

September 27, 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 – Kickoff Goal - Listen

We’ve got a 2-1 soccer game at halftime, and the trailing team is set to kick off to start the second half. The teams get lined up and number 11 from the trailing team gives it a healthy boot. It flies, untouched by any other player, and gets past the goalkeeper into the back of the net. They start celebrating, thinking they’ve tied the game at 2. But should they be?

Can a team score directly from kickoff? They can. There are a number of ways soccer teams can score. A goal can be scored directly from a kickoff, a corner kick, and a direct free kick.

Goals cannot be scored from an in-direct free kick or a throw-in. But from a kickoff? Count it!

Previous Editions:

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: Basketball Measurements

By Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials

January 4, 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 – Basketball Measurements - Listen

If you’ve seen the movie “Hoosiers,” you know that a basketball rim is 10 feet above the ground. That’s the same if you are in the gym at Beaver Island High School or at Little Caesars Arena. But what are the other court dimensions?

To start – courts are typically 84 feet long but can be up to 94 feet long. They are 50 feet wide.

The free throw line is 15 feet from the face of the backboard and the high school 3-point line is 19 feet, 9 inches from the basket.

Each hoop is a circle, 18 inches in diameter.

The boys play with a basketball 29½ inches in circumference, the girls with one 28½ inches in circumference.

And believe it or not, two girls balls will go through a standard rim at the same time.

Previous Editions:

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 ZoneListen
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