Be the Referee: Legacy Program

April 21, 2016

This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl trumpets the benefits of the Legacy Program for aspiring officials.

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 - Legacy Program - Listen

The MHSAA’s Legacy Official Program is a great way for high school junior and senior students to get involved in officiating.

The Legacy Program allows these current high school students to register and work games at the subvarsity and junior high level. Each Legacy official is paired with a Mentor official, a long-time official who has years of experience they can pass on to the brand new official.

The Legacy Program is a way that an official can get started on the right foot, with a strong system and mentor system, to where the lessons learned in the first few years of officiating can bear fruit for many years.

Past editions:
April 14: Baseball/Softball Replay - Listen
March 24: Use of the Monitor - Listen
March 17: Block/Charge - Listen
March 10: Ball Stuck on the Rim - Listen
March 3: Three Seconds - Listen
Feb. 25: Deciding the Game - Listen
Feb. 18 : Cheer Safety - Listen
Feb. 11: Primary Areas - Listen
Feb. 4: Block/Charge Calls - Listen
Jan. 28: Dive on the Floor - Listen
Jan. 21: Hockey Officials' Options - Listen
Jan. 14: Recruiting Officials - Listen
Jan. 7: Wrestling Weight Monitoring - Listen
Dec. 31: Respect for Referees - Listen
Dec. 24: Basketball Instant Replay - Listen
Dec. 17: Basketball Communication - Listen
Dec. 10: Basketball Excessive Contact - Listen
Nov. 26: Pregame Communication - Listen
Nov. 19: Trick Plays - Listen
Nov. 12: 7-Person Football Mechanics - Listen
Nov. 5: Make the Call: Personal Fouls - Listen
Oct. 29: Officials Demographics - Listen
Oct. 15: Make the Call: Intentional Grounding - Listen
Oct. 8: Playoff Selection - Listen
Oct. 1: Kick Returns - Listen
Sept. 24: Concussions - Listen
Sept. 17: Automatic First Downs - Listen
Sept. 10: Correcting a Down - Listen
Sept 3:
Spearing - Listen
Aug. 27: Missed Field Goal - Listen

The Official View: Eyes in the Sky

By Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director

September 10, 2018

By Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director 

Welcome to “Official View,” a weekly feature on the MHSAA’s Second Half website designed to deliver must-know information to Michigan’s 10,000 high school officials – while also showing administrators, athletes and fans a slice of the officiating life from those in the avocation.

Each edition will include a rule of the week, present an “It’s Your Call” segment, keep our officials up to date on important news and notices and provide a behind-the-scenes glance at officials making our games possible. 

It’s Your Call

SOCCER In the video clip below, a player takes control of the ball in the area at the top of the goal box and behind two defending players and fires a shot toward the net. Is this player offside?

(Click the video play button below; you'll then need to click again to view on YouTube, starting at 2:20 and ending at 2:39.)

You make the call: No, the player is not offside. The ball was last played by an opponent – in this case through the air on a header – and the player receiving the ball only would’ve been off-side if receiving the ball from a teammate. Rule 11-4-1b (included paragraph).

Rule of the Week

VOLLEYBALL The right-side hitter on Team S spikes the ball to the opposing side floor for a point. As she comes back to the ground following her leap, she both strikes the net and steps completely across the center line. The ball touches the floor before the hitter lands.

Ruling: This is a legal point. In order for either violation to be called, the ball must still be in play.


It’s Official!

Deadline for Tournament Consideration Requirements: Both the 2018-19 Rules Meeting and the Sport Rules Exams must be completed by Sept. 13. Check your Rules Meeting and Rules Exam status on MHSAA.com by logging in, clicking “Official Services” and then selecting the links for Exams and Rules Meetings.

If you haven’t already, get your current season schedules into the MHSAA and confirm your MIGS (Member in Good Standing) status on the MHSAA website to make certain you are eligible for postseason consideration. You must complete all of the above requirements to ensure your eligibility.

Official View

In the photo at the top of this edition, pilot Dean Lefebrve flies his football crew to its Week 2 varsity game, Negaunee at Calumet. The crew also included, just above, Dean Nelson, Rich Lundholm, Paul Angeli and Andrew Lewis.