Long Sunday Afternoon!

[Patsfan2431]

Hey guys, i wanted to know how to deal with a certain situation i was put in on Sunday afternoon. To give you a background, i am a first year official with approx. 12 pop-warner games under my belt. Previously on Sunday, i did two games on a four man crew (jr. midget, and midget) and then i was scheduled to do a game (mighty mites-youngest kids) with another guy. My board makes sure that all first years are with another official with atleast a year of experience. To my dismay, i was the only official! To give you a good idea of my discomfort, i had to break a dollar at the snack bar at the field because i didn't have a coin to flip for the coin toss! Anyway, the game was pretty uneventful, the coaches were cool and understood i was the only official and had many things to do. I only threw two or three flags for obvious calls, but i mainly used preventive officiating to get through it. I saw a few minor/close calls i could have thrown the flag on, but i didn't. I did throw a flag on the QB for throwing the ball after crossing the line of scrimage. As soon as i threw it, i knew i shouldn't have. Of'course it was a foul, but i didn't know the hand signal to signal it to the booth. I checked my officials card, signaled the play the best i could and walked off 10 yards (and loss of down). It might be a 5 or 15 yd penalty but i wasn't sure. At any rate, can anyone give me advise in this situation or critique what i did. After the game, i second guess myself on almost every penalty i didn't call/did call because i didn't have anyone to look to for assistance and explanation.

Thanks,
Dan

[BktBallRef]

We all learn by trail and error. Sounds like you handled it fine.

Just remember, illegal forward pass is 5 yards from the spot, loss of down.

[cmathews]

you did the best you could with what you have to work with. Sounds to me like you did a great job, and have nothing to worry about. The second guessing thing happens to us all, and the fact that you did it means you care and is a good sign, just don't beat yourself up over it.

[chris s]

Originally posted by Patsfan2431
Hey guys, i wanted to know how to deal with a certain situation i was put in on Sunday afternoon. To give you a background, i am a first year official with approx. 12 pop-warner games under my belt. Previously on Sunday, i did two games on a four man crew (jr. midget, and midget) and then i was scheduled to do a game (mighty mites-youngest kids) with another guy. My board makes sure that all first years are with another official with atleast a year of experience. To my dismay, i was the only official! To give you a good idea of my discomfort, i had to break a dollar at the snack bar at the field because i didn't have a coin to flip for the coin toss! Anyway, the game was pretty uneventful, the coaches were cool and understood i was the only official and had many things to do. I only threw two or three flags for obvious calls, but i mainly used preventive officiating to get through it. I saw a few minor/close calls i could have thrown the flag on, but i didn't. I did throw a flag on the QB for throwing the ball after crossing the line of scrimage. As soon as i threw it, i knew i shouldn't have. Of'course it was a foul, but i didn't know the hand signal to signal it to the booth. I checked my officials card, signaled the play the best i could and walked off 10 yards (and loss of down). It might be a 5 or 15 yd penalty but i wasn't sure. At any rate, can anyone give me advise in this situation or critique what i did. After the game, i second guess myself on almost every penalty i didn't call/did call because i didn't have anyone to look to for assistance and explanation.

Thanks,
Dan

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!
Only one??? By yourself?? Admirable, yet crazy!! I had the gloriful opportunity to work the "mighty-mite bowl" last season, I white-hatted all 5 games. No score is posted out here for these guys, but those kids know!!! In the future,get on the horn and try to find at least a second official...my area...we don't start unless at least 3 zebras are there......

[MD Longhorn]

If you feel like you only did one thing you regret, then I'd say you did a very nice job. Those kiddo games are always difficult in a unique way, even with a full crew, because you can't call every single penalty you see, or you'd have a foul on every play. You have to find the right place to draw the line, and try to remain consistent between the multiple officials.

Here's my question for you, having been in that situation a couple of times. Where did you stand?

I've tried the traditional R spot, but feel like my peripheral vision is severely limited on a sweep either way. It's probably "proper" to line up there when alone, but I've found I'm more comfortable lining up on the line, on the wing opposite the chains, but as close in as I can get. Then I can help get the kids on side, and can see as much as possible in peripheral view. A sweep to my side isn't a problem, as I can outrun him to the sideline running backward, and a sweep to the other side only causes the occasional spot problem if he goes out of bounds.

Hopefully this won't happen too often to you, but it's good to be prepared (don't walk on the field without a coin and a stopwatch if you can help it).

[Warrenkicker]

One thing I found that helped me while I was newer to officiating and still is a reminder today is adding information to the signal card that I carry. Ink didn't seem to stick to the plastic so I inscribed the yardage penalty that went along with each signal and if there was a loss-of-down or automatic first down also. I did it by just scratching the numbers and letters into the card and then wiping penmanent marker accross the scratches. The ink did stick in the scratches and now I have all of the yardages right there with me at all time. Then if you get in a situation where you aren't sure if that was a 5-yarder or 10 or if it should be an automatic first down you can just look it up quickly and move on without second guessing yourself.

[Patsfan2431]

Since it was my first time as the lone official on the field, i really didn't have a clue where i was supposed to stand so i made it up. I stood on the wing opposite the chains a number of reasons. #1 I could monitor the chain crew and throw of my hand to give the box guy a down number. #2 I would be closer to the press box to fill and start the clock (the box was running the official time which was nice). #3 i could see more of the field and spot the baller with greater accuracy. I felt that spotting the ball was my 2nd most important job in the game, second of'course to positioning the kids on the line.

One thing i did feel i did wrong was i let the little things go like the center moving the ball a bit before the snap (made sure i told him not to move the ball) and i stayed away from questionable calls (one play where a pass was thrown and both players had equal play at the ball i wasn't calling any interference there), but i called a few larger penalties like when the QB threw an illegal forward pass after crossing the NZ. One of the coaches asked if i called that then why not call the others (obvisouly the coach whose QB threw the illegal pass). I think i was consistant with a no call and used what i like to call "impartile coaching". But i still feel on one or two plays i could have made a better call or no call. I'll just chalk it up to inexperience and shock that i was the only hat out there!

[MD Longhorn]

One rule of thumb you might use at this age is "Prevent the 5, flag the 15". In other words, don't flag the 5-yarders unless it gives someone an advantage, but flag any 15-yarder, especially safety related ones. You can even think along those lines up to 7th grade or some B or C 8th grade games.

If we flagged everytime the 7 year olds wiggled the ball at the snap (or every time they took nearly a full second to snap it all the way back to the QB, while everyone else on both sides is already running), you'd never play ball.