25/40 Play clock

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by tomes1978

Yes, I think I've maybe worked one varsity game in 10 years that did not have an on field play clock.

In the past 5 years or so, we have had maybe 5 field clocks. And we had the same team a couple of times over that time so it was the same school. But we are lucky if we get one. Unless some of these schools add a clock this year, we do not have any games with a field-play clock at this point. I think this rule will help with that changing, but it is going to take awhile.

Originally Posted by tomes1978

So your question is a ball is thrown out of bounds to team B's sideline? In that situation the official on team A's sideline would quickly grab a ball from their ball boy and team B's ball boy would run the out of bounds ball under a goal post for one of team A's ball boys to go pick up.

If they do that it would be better for sure, but we do not have a policy here at this point to make that happen across the board. But we will find out here very soon. The season starts in about 2 weeks.

Peace

[tomes1978]

[QUOTE=
If they do that it would be better for sure, but we do not have a policy here at this point to make that happen across the board. But we will find out here very soon. The season starts in about 2 weeks.
[/QUOTE]

This is just how our crew does it. We found it's the best way to do it and the ball boys usually do a good job for us. The state originally wanted a ball boy from each team on both sidelines....The coaches did not want that and we thought that caused more confusion. We do a good job of getting the ball set and there is usually at least 30 seconds on the play clock by the time I (I'm the umpire) back off the ball.

[wheels]

Tomes1978, are you a 5 or 7 men crew?

[tomes1978]

Originally Posted by wheels

Tomes1978, are you a 5 or 7 men crew?

We are 5 man crews.

[tomes1978]

Another issue is getting a chain crew that will hustle. That's the hard part!!!!!

[wheels]

Originally Posted by tomes1978

Another issue is getting a chain crew that will hustle. That's the hard part!!!!!

I agree! I have a 3rd concern, Mobile BJ. We don't have set crews and guys can get assigned different positions. Last year, I had some slow BJs and wings guys. This new rule makes it tough.

For the non-field clocks, how did you handle pumping up the play clock on delays? Not having a physical clock or using the Ref Smart.

I like the Ref Smart, but that would be the only negative is not knowing how much time is left.

[Tom.OH]

Originally Posted by tomes1978

Another issue is getting a chain crew that will hustle. That's the hard part!!!!!

But they've been doing it for 30 years...

[jTheUmp]

The NCAA games around here all have at least 4 ball people (honestly, the softball/women's basketball players seem to be the most attentive... good luck if it's the wrestlers).

Two per sideline, one standing with the LOS official, one near the deep official. Ideally, each one will have one ball for each team. Ball goes OOB, the wing official turns and gets a new ball from the nearest ball person (usually the one nearest the LOS official) and relays it in to me, and the other ball person gets to hunt down the one that went OOB. We can get away with as few as three game balls per team (one per sideline, plus the one in play. For Team B, keep the 3rd ball on the pressbox side, since we always get a new ball from the pressbox side after a change of possession)

Of course, this requires 4 attentive ball persons, and 5 game balls per team... neither of which are going to happen in a high school game.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by tomes1978

This is just how our crew does it. We found it's the best way to do it and the ball boys usually do a good job for us. The state originally wanted a ball boy from each team on both sidelines....The coaches did not want that and we thought that caused more confusion. We do a good job of getting the ball set and there is usually at least 30 seconds on the play clock by the time I (I'm the umpire) back off the ball.

It was never a requirement but it was an option given. In the 3 years of the experiment we've maybe had 1 or 2 games each season where the coaches did not want balls on both sides for both teams. We didn't push it, but it definitely hurt our flow. It's more efficient to do it with balls on both sides for both teams, but it can be done the traditional way you explain. You are more likely have delays in getting balls back to the correct side.