[mikesears]

Dirk,

Bob M. pointed out that the officials you are communicating with here pretty much actually care about calling a fair and consistent game and we take pride in doing a good job. We won't comment on the performance of another official because we aren't witnesses to the game. More often than not, we've found that those who come here to complain are wrong or haven't given us the information we need or misinform us of the events that occured. This isn't the first complaint lodged against the "unknown officials".

Some more ideas that come to mind:

In your game, the officials might have told your players that the other team was taking a knee and penalized your team for the hit. Telling the defense that the other team might take a knee is a common practice to prevent rough play.

Also, at the 8/9 year old level, getting a play called and the proper players in is often messy at best. When I officiate, I won't have a delay of game foul because I am not whistling the ready-for-play until both teams have the proper players in the huddle. If players are leaving the game at the snap and it doesn't create an advantage to the opponents (nobody covers them), then I won't flag it. If coaches come onto the field to call a play and stay near the sidelines, I've got no problem with it as long as a coach isn't in my ear about my officiating.

Getting Pro rules mixed in with high school rules makes it sound like you had a full crew of rookie officials. In my first year, I OFTEN made this mistake. It also sounds like rookie officials because they were losing track of the downs and doing other things experienced officials don't do. If they are experienced and make these mistakes, then you are dealing with incompetence.

If you want to complain, chances are your league has some sort of board of directors or administration. Chances are they also also have someone who assigns the officials.

But I'd like to offer a suggestion. Make sure it really mattered in the grand scheme of life. Don't let your anger about it force you into something silly. Your players will always have to deal with people in positions of authority they might consider incompetent and learning how to deal with that might be a good lesson to learn at the young age of 8/9.