Can anyone tell me where it is written that the trail official is supposed to blow his whistle at games end(in high school).
A couple seasoned guys tried to tell me this. Is is possible a college thing?

Been round and round with local guys about this...it's not in the NFHS book, so it's not an NFHS mechanic. It is an NCAA Women's mechanic and (I believe) an NCAA Men's mechanic...having said that, our local HS Assignor has told our people to do it, so they all do it...that's kinda the way it works.

Bobcat,

It's probably a "regional" thing. I was taught to do it that way when I started and always have. There is no mechanic that specifically says that an official has to blow the whistle to end the half or game. That said, it makes sense to me that one official blow the whistle to end the game (or half) because the horn does not always indicate the end of the game (if a shot is in the air or if there is a foul etc).

As long as you go over it in pregame with your partners and all officials are on the same page, you'll find a way that works. I've always found that the trail blowing it dead works beautifully but I know that in some areas they can't stand it when an official blows their whistle to end a half or game. Just do what's accepted in your area.

Z

I have been told to blow the whistle only when it matters.

If there is a last second shot but it doesn't get off on time - you immediately blow it dead in the air. Otherwise there is no need to draw attention to yourself.

Your assignor should be able to clarify what they want to see from you.

--
Christina

Blow the whistle to stop continuing play.

Even though it is a CCA mechanic, the players at that level generally stop regardless of the whistle.

mick

Z, to me this is exactly why it doesn't make sense to blow the whistle. The horn ends play unless there is a foul or violation while the ball is still live. So if you blow your whistle, what are you telling people? Hey, I've got a foul simultaneous with the horn!!!

Having said that, I blow the whistle in my NCAA games. I still don't do it for FED games, tho.

Chuck,

Maybe it makes sense to you to not blow the whistle because you are an official and understand what whistles mean and what horns mean. The average fan doesn't have a clue and you know that many coaches don't read rulebooks either. Around here, everyone knows that the whistle ends the half or game which cuts down on confusion for everyone. And being a ref, you should know that I don't have a simultanrous foul with the horn if I blow my whistle and raise a "stop time" signal - not a fist.

Z

I was told this too. In fact, I was told not to blow my whistle to bring subs in unless I needed to get my partners attention before (s)he puts the ball in play.

That dog don't hunt, Z!
The "average" fan wants to understand. What confuses them is when an official in one game does something different than another official in another game.

It's the sub-average fan that doesn't have much of a clue.
And, I just know you don't gear your game in order to allow the sub-average fan to understand stuff. :)
mick

You lost me somewhere there Mick (not hard to do). I think we can all agree that this isn't specifically addressed in the NFHS manual (which means that we'll all have our own opinions) so you should do what's accepted in your area. Nuff' said.

Z

At the end of the game whether it's a horn or a whistle the same rules apply for a live or dead ball, so the whistle is redundant and may cause confussion.

The whistle is for a shot that is after the horn, hit your whistle and wipe it out emphatically. The only other time you'd need your whistle is if you have a timing error...not starting the clock...with an official's count.

Apples and oranges.

There is a difference between an accidental horn and the horn to end a quarter.

We've all had horn-happy tables, but those situations don't apply to an end of quarter horn and whistle.

If play continues, blow the Fox.
mick

:D

I've only been reffing 2 years. What was the whistle everyone was using before the fox40? How long has the fox40 been THE whistle?

"It all began with an invention - the creation of a revolutionary pealess whistle by professional referee Ron Foxcroft in 1987." - http://www.fox40whistle.com/corporate/fox40story.shtml

Acme Thunder in plastic.

Like I said before, do what is accepted in your area since this isn't addressed in NFHS publications. However, to say that it may cause confusion is just false. It's done in NCAA and it's done around here for NFHS and I've never seen it cause confusion, not even once. The only confusion I've ever seen is when the whistle doesn't blow and the scorekeeper forgot to turn the "automatic horn" switch on.

Z

That's it! Great example Z, I think this may be just the right one to use to convince my assignor/trainers to reinstitute the blow at the end of periods. This happens more often than some people want to believe. I had forgotten about the auto thing and it happened twice to me last year.

If it does not go off, then you need to blow the whistle. Why would you need to when it does go off correctly?

The what if logic does not hold up. What if you don't have a clock with tenths and you don't have a horn?

I think there is justification to blow the whistle at the end of quarters. How many of us have ever heard a horn get incorrected sounded during a live ball? Players are often taught to ignore the horn and play to the whistle. If there's an active play, I think a whistle may be a good thing to make sure the players stop and also, if a shoting motion is in progress, to make it clear that you are waving off the shot.

Read my first reply in this thread.

You need to blow if you notice a timing error and you have a count or if a shot is late. A whistle any other time is redundant.

The point you didn't address is the fact that players are often taught to play to the whistle...not the horn...since occassionaly inadvertant horns don't cause a dead ball but a whistle always coincides with a dead ball.

Players are taught many things that we don't need to address by blowing our whistles.;)

Put me down as in favor of redundancy on this topic then.

Me too, especially in my state where a shot clock is used for girl's games. If the players played the horn rather than the whistle, we'd have several stoppages per game due to the shot clock operator being way too slow on the resets. If a shot clock horn goes off, it's ignored unless a whistle follows shortly thereafter. Around here, it makes sense to treat the game horn the same way.

Z