[Mike Simonds]

I agree that social contact outside of football can be a great way to get to know each other and share ideas and insights.

Over here we have a mandatory meeting for coaches, officials, athletic directors and the league secretary (who is a paid full-time employee of the state department of education) at the beginning of the season.

Our goal is to standardize the format of the meeting and include visits to each team's summer training to discuss the rules and work a scrimmage as a crew.

The general annual meeting with all the coaches is attended by our entire association. In the past we just had our trainer get-up and talk about the new rules and points of emphasis. My idea is to make the presentation more visual and interactive; i.e., demonstrate what a legal block is and what an illegal block in the back is and what a clip is. Also, to clear-up the "urban legends" regarding the common differences between NF and NCAA/NFL rules. And to briefly explain the purposes of each of the officials and how coaches and players may legally interact with them.

Mainly, our goal is to reinforce the philosophy that high school football is an extension of the classroom and that officials and coaches have a joint responsibility to educate the student-athletes. In other words, officials are there to work with the coaches and players to become the best they can be.