The Official View: It's In Our Blood
By
Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
September 10, 2019
Some have said that officiating has to be in your blood.
The avocation runs through the veins of nearly 10,000 officials in this state, and “The Official View” returns this week not only to inform those valuable contributors to school sports, but also to provide an inside look at some of the people wearing the stripes – including a daughter who has followed her dad onto the court.
It’s Official!
The MHSAA Officials Guidebook is the main source for rules and regulations and policies and procedures to which MHSAA Registered Officials are to adhere. For the first time in several years, the document has been updated and revised for clarification and the removal of redundancies. It also has a new look and format that will hopefully make it easier for officials to read and review. The updated Guidebook can be found by CLICKING HERE.
Officials Bulletins for the fall season have started. Check out your specific officials sports page for this and more. You can find documents, helpful links and sport-specific information. CLICK HERE.
Rule of the Week
VOLLEYBALL After the first set comes to a close, the coach approaches the officials’ table and removes the lineup sheet to prepare the lineup for the next set.
Ruling: This move is legal … between sets. However, the lineup sheet, along with the roster sheet, must remain at the officials’ table throughout each set.
It’s Your Call
FOOTBALL This week’s clip questions the legality of a block. In the video, No. 64 in white immediately at the snap cut blocks No. 54 in blue.
Is this a legal block? What’s the call?
Official View: A Family Tradition
Interested in getting a job before she headed off to college, Frankenmuth native Megan Jarlock noticed it was difficult to find one that fit around her busy schedule and that could give her the level of saving (or spending) money she sought.
She started officiating at the suggestion of her dad, Mark, who has served as an MHSAA official for nearly 20 years himself. Mark informed Megan she could make twice as much per hour officiating as she could working in traditional college-student jobs, and she could determine for herself what games she did and didn’t want to accept.
Besides the side cash and schedule convenience, officiating provides Megan additional benefits as well. Megan is able to remain around sports she loves, stay active and keep healthy and happy. She officiates volleyball in the fall and basketball in the winter, and has even done some softball in the spring. The most important thing, though, is that she gets to officiate with her dad.
“I am also very lucky to have my dad by my side to help me learn and grow as an official and a person,” says Megan.
One of the best parts of working with her dad is the car rides, where they have a chance to catch up on each other’s busy lives. And like a lot of mentor officials, Mark often takes his daughter out to dinner after the game to discuss things she did well and areas she can improve. She is grateful for the ability to share time with her dad, both doing what they love.
Of her dad and experience, Megan said, “He is a great sports official, but an even better father and role model. I’m really enjoying being an official, and these are the moments with my family that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
PHOTO: Megan Jarlock and her dad, Mark, prepare to work an MHSAA contest. (Photo provided by the Jarlock family.)
The Official View: Night with the Crew
By
Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
October 1, 2018
By Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
In this week’s edition we discuss the power of our words and delivering them proactively, examine a football rule regarding rushing the punter and take a look at an “It’s Your Call” at the volleyball net.
It’s Official!
The Words We Use: Officials face criticisms regularly for their rule enforcement, judgment decisions and even positioning. As we know, these criticisms will be tossed about whether you get plays and rulings correct or not, so there is very little we can control in this area. One area we can control the criticisms we receive is the way we speak to others.
I’ve heard people say, “I’ll give them respect when they earn it.” If that’s your line of thinking, maybe you should consider giving respect simply because it’s the right thing to do. The way you communicate as an official to coaches, players and administrators reflects on you professionally, and often is a determining factor on how these parties view you in carrying out the rest of your responsibilities. If they think you’re a bad person, they often don’t give you the benefit of the doubt in close-call situations.
There are a number of books written on the art of diffusing situations through the words you use. One that immediately comes to mind is “Verbal Judo” by George Thompson. It is rather succinct and definitely worth the read. It provides much more detail on the philosophy of word usage, but let me provide you with a couple of seemingly innocuous phrases that can draw the ire of a coach and should be avoided:
“Well, that’s the rule” – Rules citation is very important when providing explanations, but simply stating that the rule says so sounds flippant and is looked at as a cop-out. Instead, start with “By rule,” then use rulebook terminology to describe the situation and ruling.
“Calm down” – While this is much better than the cringe worthy “Shut up” or “Hush” we hear being used from time to time, it still can provoke a primal urge to respond and can actually have the opposite effect of what is intended. Instead, try getting the results you desire by having them talk it through. Try statements like “All right, I’m listening to you,” or “Okay, explain to me what you’re asking.” And when using a phrase like “calm down,” trying adding an “if” statement along with it. For instance, “I’ll explain to you what I have if you calm down.”
Rule of the Week
FOOTBALL Team R loads up the box with rushers to put pressure on K’s punt deep in its own zone. As K1 punts, R1, coming from the center of the line, just gets fingers on the ball and partially blocks it. R2, from the edge, then firmly contacts the kicker’s plant leg and sends him to the ground.
Ruling: This is not a foul (in itself). The rulebook does not provide that only the player who touches the kick is excused from contacting the kicker. This exception to the rule refers only to when “the defense touches the kick.” (9-4-5-b) Of course, this does not give carte blanche to defensive players to go out of their way to unnecessarily rough the kicker just because the ball is touched.
It’s Your Call
VOLLEYBALL The clip from this week picks up after an extended volley. As Team S plays the ball over the net for its third hit, a front row member of Team R makes a play on the ball. The questions is, are the two contacts by the front row R player legal? Why or why not?
Last Week’s IYC Ruling: The basic spot on the play is the end of the run. Using the all-but-one principle, this foul would be penalized from the spot of the foul (A’s 35). If the defense accepts the penalty, it would be A’s ball, 3rd-and-27 on A’s 20. If the defense declines, it would be 4th-and-8 on A’s 39. This is definitely an instance that you want to run the options by B’s coach before enforcing the penalty. (Click to see the video from last week.)
Official View
After a long, hard-fought Friday night contest between Rockford and Greenville, crew members (left to right) Dale Feutz, Brian Donovan, Sam Boland, and Luke Griemsman stop in at a local Rockford eatery to discuss the night’s game over a meal.