Be the Referee: Selecting Finals Officials
April 9, 2018
In this final edition for the 2017-18 school year, assistant director Mark Uyl explains how officials are selected to work the MHSAA's biggest tournament events.
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 – Selecting Finals Officials - Listen
During every season and every tournament, we get the question, “How were these officials chosen to be working the championship games?”
Just like the tournament progression has the best teams playing until the bitter end, we have a process to where the best officials are also identified to be working those Semifinal and Final games.
Every official gets rated by both schools (every time she or he work a game) over a three-year period on a 1-4 scale. All of this data is compiled to where we then produce the top third, middle third and bottom third in terms of school ratings.
We then also look at recommendations from associations, assigners and leagues and conferences to identify the very best officials being on the very best games.
Past editions
March 15: We Get Letters - Listen
February 22: Block/Charge Calls - Listen
February 15: Dog Days of February - Listen
February 8: National Playing Rules Process - Listen
February 1: Calling Intentional Fouls - Listen
January 25: Points at the Edge of the Mat - Listen
January 18: Behavior Warning - Listen
January 11: Ice Hockey Safe & Sound - Listen
January 4: Why No Shot Clock - Listen
December 21: Coaches Responsible for Equipment - Listen
December 14: Mentoring New Officials - Listen
December 7: Dive on the Floor - Listen
November 30: Wrestling Weight Monitoring - Listen
November 23: Ejections - Listen
November 16: Toughest Call - Listen
November 9: Hurdling - Listen
November 2: The Survey Says - Listen
October 26: Helmet Comes Off - Listen
October 19: Goal Line Rules - Listen
October 12: No 1st-Year Fee - Listen
October 5: Athletic Empty Nesters - Listen
September 28: Misunderstood Football Rules: Kicking - Listen
September 21: Preparation for Officials - Listen
September 14: Always Stay Registered - Listen
September 7: Other Football Rules Changes - Listen
August 31: Pop-Up Onside Kicks - Listen
August 24: Blindside Blocks - Listen
Be the Referee: Bowling Ball Rules
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator
December 17, 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 – Bowling Ball Rules - Listen
We’re bowling today, and the question is: Can a bowler use a bowling ball with no holes?
The answer is yes – but there are some rules around it.
A ball with no holes would have to follow static balance rules. If the ball weighs more than 10 pounds, it may not have more than three ounces of difference between any two halves of the ball.
Additionally, there needs to be a plus sign (+) engraved on the ball where the bowler will place their dominant hand if the ball has more than a three-quarter ounce imbalance between any two halves of the ball.
If there is no imbalance, the plus sign is not needed, and the bowler can place their dominant hand anywhere on the bowling ball they like.
Previous 2024-25 Editions
Dec. 10: Neck Laceration Protector - Listen
Dec. 3: Basketball Goaltending - Listen
Nov. 26: 11-Player Finals Replay - Listen
Nov. 19: 8-Player vs. 11-Player Football - Listen
Nov. 12: Back Row Setter - Listen
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
(MHSAA file photo.)