Be the Referee: Vern L Norris Award

April 28, 2016

This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl offers praise for Linda Hoover, this year's MHSAA Vern L. Norris Award winner. 

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 - Norris Award Winner Linda Hoover - Listen

The MHSAA is proud to announce that Linda Hoover from Marshall has been awarded the 2016 Vern Norris Award.

The Norris Award is not simply the “official of the year” recognition. It is an award that is given to someone who is a true leader in the world of officiating, as a trainer and recruiter of new officials.

Linda’s 36 years of experience as a high school official in both softball and volleyball have led her to recruit, train and retain officials in both of these sports.

Her resume is very impressive with experiences at the college, professional and high school levels, and Linda is a very deserving winner.

Past editions:
April 21: Legacy Program - Listen
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

Be the Referee: Football Rules Similarities

By Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials

August 30, 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 – Football Rules Similarities - Listen

Last week we highlighted some major differences between high school football and the college and pros. This week — how about some of the things that are similar?

New as of last year is the addition of a tackle box when judging intentional grounding. In high school, like college and pros, the QB must be outside of the tackle box and throw it past the line of scrimmage for it to NOT be intentional grounding.

Horse collar tackles are penalties at all three levels of play. The ball carrier must be pulled down backward or to one side for there to be a foul … but if there is, it’s 15 yards.

And a receiver at the high school level needs to have a body part down in bounds, the same as in college. But the NFL requires two feet in for a catch.

Previous Editions

Aug. 23: Football Rules Differences - Listen

(PHOTO by Douglas Bargerstock.)