Casebook play 9.2.2 Question.

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

Dad has stated that he officiates in a H.S. league in which the league assigner has instructed the officials to not follow the NFHS Rules and Casebook Plays with respect to the situation that we are discussing. I took the position that officials are ethically and professionally obligated to conduct the game per the rules. Some posters have taken me to task because I advocated doing the correct thing rather than doing what the assigner wanted.

We are professionals and our code of ethics requires to apply the rules and casebook plays correctly, and to knowingly do otherwise is unethical conduct.

I have nothing further to say because there is nothing else that anybody can say.

MTD, Sr.

I'm with you except that you're confused as to who ultimately gets to set the rules.

The NFHS sets the model rules, but the teams playing the game hire the referees and they get to set the rules. For the most part, they tell us to use the NFHS rules, but when they say otherwise (for example, OHSAA saying we are not to use the team control signal) we enforce the rules of the competition as set by the organizing association.

So if a league says that want this situation dealt in this way, you are ethically obligated to either deal with it this way or turn down the assignment. What the NFHS wants really doesn't enter into it.