[JRutledge]

I belong to two different associations. One has many Big Ten and MAC officials that regularly attend meetings. We even have currently 3 NFL officials that attend from time to time as well. So any phase of the game can be covered by people those you see on TV or have achieved the highest levels. This association meets every Tuesday almost the entire football season. This association is greatly focused on college officiating. Almost every association has an extensive tape presentation that covers many plays from the past years (sometimes the current year) with situations and plays that are unusual to bring home a point. Just watching these tapes has added 10 years to my career from an experience point of view. I have seen plays that I never see during games. When something similar happens on the field, I can reference what I saw during these presentations. No wonder this association creates some of the best officials in the country.

My other association is a much smaller association. This association is geared only towards HS football and we have many officials that have worked the state finals in their career. I am the treasure of this association and as a board member we try our best to help newer officials with a "New Officials" meeting before our regular meeting. We try our best to cover topics and mechanics that affect every position and go over some of the most difficult and complicated rules in football. The last few years our meeting attendance has increased and we are growing with newer officials.

Peace