Quote:
Originally posted by Bawanna
You are right and a line has to be drawn. However who is to say that if I did not say something when I did, then it wouldn't of been 3 or more min. I was trying to prevent having to make a decision on this violation its called preventative officiating. In the future however I will find game management (ie AD) instead of the head coach.
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Why draw a line? Where is the necessity?
Back in 1996, the NFHS changed the timing rule so that the clock starts on the snap when a new series is awarded to B or to either team following a legal kick. Their contention is that this has lengthened the game by mere minutes. In practice, we have found that this change has lengthened the game by much more than that - about ten minutes on average, but possibly as much as thirty minutes if there are many changes of possession.
My point is that a minute or two of delay starting either half must be kept in perspective, and is certainly nothing to get worked up over. I doubt that many of these games are on a TV schedule, so the actual starting time does not have to be precise.
Try these tactics, and see if it helps:
***Have you timer set the game clock to expire three or more minutes before scheduled game time.***
The NFHS rule book specifies that the coin toss is to be conducted at that time (three minutes before game time), so you tell both head coaches that you want the captains at the sidelines ready for the toss when the clock hits zero. When a coach has to subtract time from what is showing on the clock to know when to send captains out, he is distracted from more important things involved in preparing for the game. You make it easy for him by setting the clock to expire when he needs to be ready - not when the kickoff is expected. He can look up and know he has X minutes to go. Coaches in our area appreciate this.
It's kind of like cooking a roast. You don't set the kitchen timer to go off when dinner is expected to be served and then subtract the time it will take to get it on the table. You set the timer to go off when you expect to take the roast out of the oven. The rest falls in place as it comes.
By the way, you don't tell announcers or band directors that the clock is early. They'll look at it and think they are running out of time and move things along. If they are still out on the field when the toss is supposed to take place, go ahead and bring the captains right on out into their formation (exception: make adjustments for the American Flag and the National Anthem). The power of suggestion is very strong in these cases and guess what? You'll have a clock that says 0:00 to point at if and when they fuss. If the timer gets the clock going at least a half-hour before game time (set at 27:00), everyone gets plenty of notice.
***Set the halftime clock at 17:00 (or whatever your halftime duration is to be), and don't start it until all players of both teams are completely off the field. At the end of the 17:00, add 3:00 back on and start it again.***
My state association specifies that halftime is to be 20 minutes including the mandatory three minute warmup period. Adjust your clock to meet own association halftime specification. Again, setting the clock to expire early shows everyone how much time is left for their activities. Band directors will catch on soon enough that when the first seventeen runs out, it's time to move. It gives them three minutes to march off as they play their finale. When we first started doing this, we actually had bands stop playing and run off the field when the clock hit zero! Now they know, and they respect the time in most cases.
In order to accomodate the bands - those kids feel that their activities are important, too - do not be too strict. If the band is finishing up a song and is marching off as time expires, so what? Let it go and have the teams come out and set up while the band is moving off, and don't make a big deal of it. Again, those few seconds most likely will not affect your lifetime.
However, if the time runs out and the band is not making any indications that they are wrapping up - for example, if they strike up another tune - do not get involved with the band director or game management. Simply
inform the home head coach that his team will be starting the half with a five-yard deficit. He won't like it, but he knows the rule. He will most certainly take it up with the AD and the band director. It shouldn't happen twice. Besides, five yards on a kickoff to start a half is relatively meaningless yardage. They have 24 minutes to make it up, and I'll bet it's not the only five yards they'll lose to a penalty in the half.
By using these two timing tricks, we have found that most games start pretty much on time, and the restart after the halftime is relatively prompt.
By the way, Rocky, Tom Cook was right. Although the book specifies that the three minute period is a "mandatory warm-up time" and that the coach is responsible for his team being "on the field," few of us officials care what you deem constitutes "warm-up" or even that you come onto the field to do it. Apparently you have run into some officials with too much time on their hands, or too much alum in their ...uh... water.