NFHS View of Shot Clock
 

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (May 8, 2012) — Participation and fan interest in high school basketball remain strong throughout the nation, and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Basketball Rules Committee voted to retain one aspect of the sport that makes it unique from other levels of play.

At its April 16-18 meeting in Indianapolis, the committee considered a proposal to add a shot clock to the high school rules but agreed that the sport played by about one million boys and girls in approximately 18,000 high schools is functioning well without it.

Although a shot clock has been employed at the college level for many years, results of the questionnaire that is sent to coaches, officials and state association administrators across the country did not indicate a strong desire to use the clock at the high school level.

“In addition to the fact that there is some concern about the costs associated with the use of a shot clock, the committee also expressed a belief that the game is typically played with an up-tempo style even without a shot clock,” said Kent Summers, director of performing arts and sports at the NFHS. “In addition, the committee believes that coaches should have the option of a slower-paced game if they believe it makes their team more competitive in specific situations. This could be especially true for smaller schools with limited budgets, which comprise a significant number of the 18,000 basketball-playing schools. Since the NFHS writes rules for all sizes of schools and teams, it has to consider what is best for the masses.”

The committee did approve one rule change and two major editorial changes, which subsequently were approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

Rule 2-12 will now require the official scorer to wear a black-and-white vertically striped garment. Previously, this was a recommendation for schools.

“The players, coaches and officials need to be able to quickly and easily identify the official scorer, and making this a requirement should assist in that regard,” Summers said.

One of the editorial revisions approved by the committee concerns changes made last year in a team-control foul. The following language will be added to Rule 4-19-7: “ . . . including a member of the throw-in team from the start of the throw-in until player control is obtained inbounds.”

The committee noted that the team-control rule change last season introduced an unnecessary level of complexity to a number of rules. This additional language will allow all rules affected by the team-control definition change last season to revert to previous verbiage.

The other editorial change is Rule 2-2-4, which expands the timeframe for state associations to intercede in the event of unusual incidents from after a game, to before and during a contest.

In addition, the Basketball Rules Committee approved four points of emphasis for the 2012-13 season: 1) closely guarded situations, 2) contact above the shoulders, 3) intentional fouls and 4) guidelines to enforce illegal contact. Points of emphasis are specific rules that need more attention by players, coaches and officials.

Basketball is the second-most popular sport for girls and third-most popular for boys at the high school level, according to the 2010-11 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the NFHS, with 438,933 girls and 545,844 boys participating nationwide. The sport ranks first in school sponsorship of girls and boys teams with 17,767 schools sponsoring the sport for girls and 18,150 sponsoring the sport for boys.

I would tend to agree with the committee about the shot clock in boys games. Washington State has a 35 second clock for boys and a 30 second for girls. It really was not a factor in any of the boys games I worked or watched this season as most of the boys teams play very up-tempo ball (whether they have the skill to or not). On the girls side, I like it. It can lead to some pretty lopsided scores, but in most cases that would happen even without the clock. It keeps girls teams from getting a 9 or 10 point lead and then stalling (see the Oregon State Championship game).

Easily the best thing they've done in years.

A survey showed that a shot occurs in high school basketball once every 16 seconds (though I'm sure that includes put-backs). I still maintain that a shot clock isn't necessary, and I'm glad we don't have to deal with one.

Still, there are fans who scream for a shot clock every single time there's stall ball in a tournament game -- which are televised here. We had one in February that went into double OT, and for six of the eight minutes, the ball was on someone's hip.

As for the rule change, I wonder how much we'll be told to enforce that at the sub-varsity level. Fashion Police: Table Precinct.

My guess is not at all. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this will be ignored in many areas of the country.

Really, I'd guess this would be ignored outright at all levels...including varsity.

As far as the shot clock, I would just have it be something that can be used by state adoption.

And what is going to be the remedy? If they do not have a shirt what the heck are we going to be able to do about it in the first place? Nice little change I guess, but not enforceable on many levels.

And here is the problem with state adoption, it puts those states in jeopardy to have influence on rules in the NF. Not sure everyone is jumping on board to eliminate their influence. I think that is the reason it is not adopted here.

Peace

Here, like in many areas, there are a lot of official scorers who have been working these games since the Nixon administration. I doubt we'll be able to enforce this even in the varsity games. It'll be interesting to see, however.

A Black And White Eagle ???
 

chseagle will now get his wish.

Link to article?

Now he's officially officially part of the crew. :D

Did that survey include girls games? Or was it just in boys games?

As far as the scorer wearing the striped shirt - it's pretty simple: the AD of the school needs to buy a striped shirt and keep it with their table gear in the closet (or wherever they keep it). The scorer shows up for the Varsity game and it's sitting there waiting.

I doubt it. People even here try to act like girl's and boy's basketball is the same anyway. So why would we expect in this politically correct world to think that people would try to consider that things are actually different in basketball by gender?

Peace

It's a Title IX world and we're just pawns in the game.

I am not talking about legality or the law; I am talking about the attitude that what we call or what we do at the girl's side is really the same as what boy's do in the same sport. People get offended when you suggest they are primarily a girl's or women's officials when the reality is that many officials that work that side (not all) are incapable or do not have the ability to handle a boy's game. It is not different than suggesting someone that works youth ball could not handle a varsity game, but it is not politically incorrect to make that statement.

Peace

I foresee a message from supervisors stating, don't deal with this one. Contact us, and let us deal with it (a standing order regarding "X"s on the floor).

Not sure. My source didn't mention gender, so I can only assume it's across the board.

How hard is it to have an X on the floor? We bought a moveable one that we put down in front of the table and our officials are fine with it.As to the scorer having to wear the black and white-guess I'm going to have to go shopping.Summer starts here in a month and a half.
Wonder if they'll be ok with us wearing the black and white over a school polo shirt?

and I think that's exactly the way the NFHS wants it...no difference between the two. The Fed is in the political correctness business. Maybe not the exact legal wording but that's the essence of Title IX

Title XXVIII 1/2 ...
 

This won't be true until everybody uses the same size basketball.

My position is not really necessarily about the National Federation thinks or wants. My position is how people in general do not want to admit there is a major difference in what happens on a basketball court between the genders. The National Federation does not control what we talk about here and that constant debate comes up all the time just on this forum.

Peace

Boy field hockey star kicked off girls' team for being 'too good' | Fox News

Title IX cuts both ways, it would appear.

What - nobody on the crew brought a spare?

Somewhat seriously, the "penalty" would probably be the same as the one if there's no X on the floor in front of the official scorer.

I can see two problems with this.

First, what if your scorer is five feet tall and your shirt is XL?

Second, what if the gym is hosting two or more games per night (e.g. freshman, JV, and varsity), and each has its own official scorer? Do you seriously want three different people wearing the same shirt over the course of a night?

Here's an idea: to make it clear that the official scorer is not an official, have the official scorer shirts with white stripes that are twice as wide as the black ones. (The rule will probably say "black and white vertical striped shirt", but make no reference to the width of the stripes. Personally, I liked to use a black and white horizontal striped rugby shirt.)

This will work just fine until the next officiating fad hits and the fetish with the greys ends:

wide stripes

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy ...
 

... have the officials wear black shirts with white stripes, and have the official scorekeeper wear a white shirt with black stripes. Problem solved.

I'm not giving a shirt to a scorer to wear. Personally, I don't *care* if the scorer has a striped shirt on or not.

Yep, I'd rather see the scorer wearing home team colors and face paint than lend them one of my shirts and risk most of a game fee.

Thank goodness!! I begged my area's member of the Rules Committee to use this language when they made the change last season, and I was ignored. I didn't bother to re-submit it this year, but they changed it anyway!!

I honestly did not expect them to make this change. It's pretty much admitting that they screwed the pooch originally. But I'm very glad that they did -- for two reasons.

1) Obviously, it makes the rule better and removes the contradictions that we were supposed to officiate around all last season.

2) It shows that the committee listens to officials. Because you can be pretty darn sure that no coach or AD recognized all the issues that came from the change last year. So some official(s) somewhere got their attention and they were willing to correct a pretty big mistake.

Great...now you just gave some attorney somewhere an idea for a title IX lawsuit...UNEQUAL BALL SIZE:D

Official Scorer. Not Timer. Not Shot Clock Operator. Not Special Advisor To Game Management & Officials.

What about Taser Czar?

Like this?
 

First - the AD buys one shirt - probably XL. Nobody cares how well it fits as they scorer will probably wear it over their own shirt anyway.

Second - I think we were talking about the shirt only being required at the Varsity level, and that was the direction I was taking.

I really don't see this as being that big of an issue, and it will help the crews as we often have 5 or 6 different people sitting at the table. Be nice to recognize the official scorer quickly and easily.

Or, a pinney. One size fits nobody.

To really understand the implication of having or not having a shot clock the survey should have been two surveys - one for schools not using a shot clock and another for schools that are using a shot clock. I bet that 16 seconds number goes up a little.

Maybe, but in my career, I've worked only one game with a shot clock (JV college women's game), and the rest of them I've only had a half dozen games that involved any prolonged stall tactic. Most of them imploded, and none of them lasted more than a couple of minutes.

It seems to me the number of games in which this takes place is so small that it's not really a problem. IOW, it's a solution in search of a problem.

I'm picturing the crowd control guys standing around in stripes; or maybe they can wear a blue uniform similar to the deputy standing in the corner drinking coffee.

My guess is that the NFHS only surveyed states that use NFHS rules (i.e., no shot clock). Even if it didn't, the number of states using a shot clock is very small....not enough to substantially affect the average.

The shot clock would largely not affect most possessions of most games...but would be there to limit the extremes. Make it 45 seconds so most teams are unaffected by it at all but short enough to prevent true stall ball.

Post One Funny Thought, Get One Free ...
 

This is funny on one level, and really, really funny on a another level.

Scorer's uni and the fashionista
 

My wife keeps book for local high school, and while her favorite colors of dress are black and white, she will never, ever wear the "ref shirt" at the table. I joke with her from time to time when she questions calls (afterwards) that she should try the whistle sometime, but she says she would never even consider it because of the uniform:) I expect if forced, she will give up the book.

So for those of us in areas where grey is the officiating shirt, does the scorer still wear stripes or should they wear grey too? What about side panels? Oh the humanity. :)

I'm kind of surprised this is the big thing to come out of the rule changes meeting.

The perfect Mother's Day gift.:D

This is only true when a state ignores a rule in place that isn't subject to an approved point for state adoption. Years ago, Fed baseball didn't allow metal cleats but Texas ignored that and allowed them. Texas reportedly lost their position on the rules committee. But they haven't in basketball just because they have a smaller coaching box that Fed basketball allows.

Do you have any examples of where the rules allow for state association adoption and the state that adopted it lost influence?

Exactly! The NFHS doesn't exclude states who chose any particular option where they've given the state the option. They only exclude states from the rules making process if they operate outside the set of options the NFHS rules give them.

And as of now, shot clocks are not an approved option. Have the states that use it lost their seats? Is one rule deviation enough to lose that seat?

Yes, at least for California

One of our newspaper reporters asked that question to a interscholastic association official in Massachusetts, where the shot clocks exist. The reply: "It's no big deal."

Yes. The states lose their seat over one deviation. I sure it takes a big one like this rather than some uniform waiver, but that is really their only way to maintain some amount of order. Otherwise, you'd have 100 completely different sets of "rules" (50 for each boys and girls).

IIRC, there are only about 8 states that actually use if for HS competition. It is not like the common press would have you believe that most states use it.

coincidence?
 

Struckhoff leaves.

Language clarified to make sense.

The Pope allows more dissent
 

So if states that use the shot clock lose a seat, then the NFHS essentially excludes supporters of a high school shot clock from having a voice in making it an option..

Maybe. But your assuming that everyone from those states thinks there should be a shot clock. Just because they have one doesn't mean the individuals support one.

And I doubt they lose their voice, they just lose a seat at the table that makes the decision. They probably still have representation.

I can find out, but I am under the impression that states that have decided not to be full members can attend the meetings and even speak at those meetings, they just cannot vote on rules proposals and cannot make proposals. I could be wrong about that on some level, but I can ask someone in the our state office if that is the case. I do know that they seem to go out of their way not to oppose NF Rules, but have modified rules to make it easier for some local issues that have come up, like modifying the uniform rules to not give Ts every time we have a basketball game.

Peace

This assumes a few things that can't be assumed.
1. That all supporters of the shot clock reside in states that use the shot clocks. I'm guessing there are a lot of people in Colorado, for example, who would like to see a shot clock at the high school level.
2. That no one in the states who use the shot clock has the ear of someone who is actually on the committee. See JRutledge's post.
3. That no state has decided not to use the shot clock in order to maintain their status on the rules committee. They support it, but don't use it in order to maintain their voting status. Membership in any organization often includes a requirement to adhere to the rules.

As Camron pointed out, little deviations (like uniform waivers or extended coaching boxes) probably won't do it, but using the shot clock, complete disregard for NFHS mechanics manuals, or altering the number of TFs required for DQ, probably would.

It's not unreasonable to require a minimal level of compliance to maintain full membership rights.

I doubt that would do it. A lot of states use alternate mechanics...they are simply guidelines, not rules.

100% iaabo ...
 

Every high school, and most prep school, officials in the Constitution State use IAABO mechanics, yet we are allowed full representation in NFHS business.

When Mary Struckoff was in her position with the NF, she came to our state and said that the NF does not care what mechanics states decide to use. And she gave an example of a certain state, which I am not going to not mention to offend anyone that wanted to do something very unique and the NF thought their mechanic was silly. But they did not care what they taught and it had nothing to do with membership. Mechanics books are guides and states can come up with their own procedures if they like towards mechanics. And as I have stated before, our state has not handed out Mechanics Manuals for almost a decade in any sport because what the NF does is considered outdated in many cases and hard to change. So when our state sees something that does not work, they change it to what does work.

Peace

Let me guess:

State: Texas
Mechanic: Blowing the whistle upon officials entering the visual vicinity.

:D

No, not the state of Texas. ;)

Peace

Where does a non-official get the black & white striped jersey anyway? sporting good store? Official's supplier only? :confused:

I am sure Google works on many computers and someone can get it from any number of places.

Peace

Prerequisite ...
 

You first have to get a job at Foot Locker.

Gets 'Em Every Time ...
 

My turn:

State: Connecticut.
Mechanic: Shooter has foot touching three point line signal.

The way it was explained to me is that the NFHS categorizes rules based on "administrative" versus "playing" rules.

Rules about uniforms, officials' mechanics, etc, are considered administrative. Since modifying these rules should not fundamentally effect how the game is played, the NFHS doesn't care if you tweak them.

However, alterations to the "playing" rules, that could fundamentally effect how the game is played (e.g. shot clock, allowing illegal dribbles, changing how the pivot foot is established) is frowned upon and the "punishment" is the lack of vote that has been mentioned.

Since Washington has applied the shot clock, we have not had a vote on the rules changes, etc for many years. Now we have been told that the WIAA/WOA will be printing and distributing it's own mechanics manuals and POE's this summer, and we are being directed to use them and not the NFHS stuff. Not sure where that is headed, but I'm not liking it very much.

It could simply be a cost thing. The state can charge you just as much for membership and not have to spend the money on the NFHS books.....that would be many ten of thousands of dollars. They can distribute electronically for very little. If they distribute in paper, it can't be for costs since I double they could print the equivalent of the NFHS book for much less.

That's a nice thought...but that is not the reasoning I have been told, unfortunately.

Anyone else from Washington have info about this?

Rocky,

Do they have to produce a book? Can they produce a place to review the information like on PowerPoint or a PDF file?

My state stopped giving books years ago and not much has changed or affected our training programs. And if you are tied to books from a body that does not run your state, what happens if your state wants to change something or thinks that something in that book is outdated or flawed? I will admit that in basketball we do not waiver much from the NF and their procedures, but in other sports there were several mistakes made at the highest level because we followed the NF books to the letter.

Peace

Not sure if it will be an actual book or something online - just know that at our last association meeting this spring the Board was informed that the WIAA/WOA would be producing their own mechanics manual and we would be required to follow that...

You're welcome. ;)

Your points are well-taken, but consider the following:

First, I think that people on the rules committee from a state that uses a shot clock probably personally endorse the shot clock. Otherwise the state association probably would not have selected them to represent the state's interests in the rules process.

Second, Does adopting the shot clock really rise to the level of disregard for NFHS rules? I can see sanctioning jurisdictions that want different playing rules for things such as eligibility, fouls and violations. But I see a shot clock is a different animal; the fundamental rules are not changed by a state deciding you have to hit the rim within 30 or 35 seconds.

Third, while realizing that adopting a shot clock may be a financial issue in some states, does not playing to a shot clock i high school put players at a disadvantage when it comes time for college?

It makes no sense to me that the NFHS does not allow a shot clock by state adoption. A shot clock does not alter fundamental rules of basketball.

I'm officially ready for the fall season. I wonder how many people will ask if I am the referee. :D

(And should I ever decide to trade my pens and laptop for a whistle, at least I have part of the uniform already.)

IMO, not really. Many times rules are created with the majority in mind. The majority of high school basketball players aren't going to play at the next level. Those that do will have the time to adjust when they reach the next level and/or they play on club teams that use the shot clock in tournaments.

On The Other Hand ...
 

Or, how many will ask if you work at Foot Locker?

It wouldn't surprise me, but I'd get a good laugh if anyone asks. :D

No but it can significantly alter how the game is played.

Change the rules = no vote.

*Preface this by saying it is a non issue as I officiate FIBA only lately and we always have a shot clock.

As a stake holder in the game I want to do what is better for the kids:

| How The Shot Clock Improves Player Development - theLLaBB