Witht he great sportsmanship being shown this past weekend, I am currious what the feeling of the board is on this topic:

at the conclusion of a play, a fight breaksout between 2-4 players. Swinging, punching, ect... As an official, what are reactions, hbow do you handel this and what about the other players?

Do you do the "hockey officiating" allow the players to scrap it out andf keep other away until down to the ground,then begin to pull off"? Do you try and seperate the combatants? Who is watching / keeping others from joining in 5-10 yards away?

What if fans begin to become involved either on the field OR in stands.

Please hope with me that this NEVER happens in a HS game, but the way it is going, you never know!

In my neck of the woods, for the NF, NCAA, and semi pro (NAFL) ball I work, we have been instructed to get them apart if it is just a few players. If it gets more than that, and we feel we cannot break it up, get out your card and write down the team color and number of every player you witness fighting.
In that SCarolina game, the officials, not even the police could stop those players. Only pepper spray or a stun gun was going to slow that one down before it settled itself down.

Wing officials should turn to their respective benches (if they can/are not invloved in separating the combatants) and attempt to keep players from leaving the bench area.

Every situation is different, so there is no "set policy" on how to handle it.

HL-LJ work with the coaches to try to keep any more players from entering the field. REF-UMP-BJ work the middle of the field to separate players until help arrives. Get out your data card and take down numbers, team colors, be sure to drop the yellow "hankie" on the ground because it is most certainally unsportsmanship like behavior, and the whole incident is being taped.

If it gets out of hand, like it did in SC Saturday, let the professionals handle it. That's what they get paid to do. We all talk about the player who takes his helmet off to fight; remember that you don't have any protection at all. All it takes is a shot to the head with a helmet, and your life could be in danger.

The schools pay me $65 to officiate a football contest, not riots.

In florida ,we are not allowed to touch players in any circumstance, not even to help with chin strap, shoulderpads, ect.

I had a funny incident that happened this year during a game. We, too, have a hands off policy, but this kid is tackled and goes down after which he starts writhing and holds his leg up. "Ref, stretch me out - I've got a cramp!" he says as me and the R look at each other. The R is closer so he just puts his hand under the back of the kid's heel and lifts it maybe two inches. The kid then declares himself OK and gives us an enthusiastic "Thanks!".

Was kind of taken by surprise by the whole thing and looking back, we probably shouldn't have touched the kid, but it definitely gets filed under 'things that don't happen to you everyday'.

Only time I was near a melee was at a youth game in an urban setting. A fight broke out at halftime in the crowd and people were running on the field to get to the other sideline where it had broken out. We were standing in the middle of the field and getting nervous - clubs were being used and brandished by others running towards the fight. We assessed where each of us were parked and formulated a plan of escape should we need it to the closest car.

While discussing the NBA and SC fights , an official related a situation he was involved with earlier this year. After a TD both teams and benches cleared in a brawl . Officials , Coaches,& Security restored order . After a few ejections and some cooling off time , the try was attempted and it started all over again. Some more ejections and the game resumed and was finished without further incident. This is high school varsity action. If I were WH the game is over when the brawl starts on the try. If I was a crew member and the WH wants to continue the game , he would do so without me. If the league has a problem with me leaving a game I would retire .

I have never seen a fight break out at the conclusion of a play. If that has happened, imagine the headline, "Crowd cheers encore: only it wasn't acting."

I had a fight breakout three weeks ago in a playoff game...20-30 players from both teams a two coaches involved. It took 7 or 8 Sheriff Deputies and other Law Enforcement to get things under control. Our crew tried to break it up at first but it got out of hand rapidly and we all backed off and began documenting numbers. The game was great until that point...28-28 until 4:11 in the 4th when home team scored...after the score I (BJ) had an unsportsmanlike foul on the visiting team...then LJ had one the home team (retaliation) then it all went haywire!! The coaches involved never actually exchanged blows but they were not helping and had to be restrained by three deputies with the help of their respective staff...Our crew conversed for 10-15 minutes and decided to eject 3 from each team and the two coaches...It was a mess and probably could have / should have been handled differently. I was disappointed in the final decision of R and let him know...That is another issue....

Your R's reaction and reasons behind his decision might be the most enlightening part of this story. Please indulge us by providing details. Thanks

Here in Texas we just throw the flags and get on the whistles and right down numbers. The coaches are allowed on the field to break up the fight and are strongly encouraged to only pull their own players off.

Varsety game 3weeks ago, Home team up by 14 points with 1:30 left in game. Home team on Visiting teams 30. Atempted 2 passes both fell i/c, called timeout. 3ed down visiting team(Bum Rushes) after ready for play blown. All hell breaks lose. Players and coaches, with some fans from both sides enter field start swinging. W. H. is caught in middle off fracas. One player takes helmet off and starts swinging, misses W. H. by shoulder pad. SJ Fj & BJ, we stood back, (Watching our backs) writing down #s all cards were full. Game called, 2 visiting team coaches lost job. Player swinging helmet and making contact,recieved 6 game suspension from state( 1 football 5 wrestling). We were working 7 man crew preping for playoffs. Very experienced crew(all over 8 years) nothing preciding last play would indicate such chaos would occur.Our crew made it to dressing room with escort unscathed.