Ejection Committee Meeting

[timharris]

Hello All

I have officiated football for over (12) years at different levels such as High School and Semi pro. This past weekend I worked recreational football here in Virginia, and one of my crew members did bot show up, so we were forced too a (3) man system. I immediately got both coaches together and explained that we do not have to play if you gentleman decide not to and they both decided to play the game. It was a really good game going into the 4th the score was 0-0, the final was 6-0. In the 4th quarter I ejected
(1) offensive player and (1) defensive player for fighting and today I receive and email from the league committee stating the team is appealing my ruling on the field. They wrote in a nice little letter stating all the holds, illegal blocks and late hits we missed etc etc. I did not include the letter because I did not want too bore you. The team that lost the game stated it was the correct ruling on the field and they would not appeal his player being ejected from the game. The losing team also stated we did one heck of a job. The losing team actually came up and shook our hands after the game.

Has anyone else ever been in this situation?

What are some good things too say too the committee

Thank You

Timothy H
and

[MD Longhorn]

I don't believe a committee would be formed in such a situation where I work. Seems to be a pretty straightforward ejection. Not sure what you would need to say other than stating what happened and let them do whatever they need to do. I'd be rather shocked if a committee caved on this one, and I might not work there again if they did.

[rockyroad]

See if you can get a video of the game and show the committee the situation that led to the ejections...perhaps the losing team had someone film the game?

[Forksref]

If they don't back you, then you and anyone you know should not do this league. In FED rules, there are no appeals. Don't lower your standards to their level.

I never do non-school leagues for reasons such as this one.

[ljudge]

One thing I learned is stick exactly to the facts. They wrote about holds and stuff missed. That has nothing to do with the ejection so you need to question the ingelligence of the committee.

I had my very first DQ last Friday night in my 10th season of working football, my 4th as a varsity high school referee.

In our case we had a player grab a facemask and his opponent punched him. The player who grabbed the facemask was missed by the covering official but he clearly saw the punch. We're confident it was a "miss" on the facemask because the opposing coach came up to me and said "my kid had his facemask but your linesman didn't see it."

The home coach wanted to know had my HL saw the facemask would his player still be ejected. I told him if there was a facemask and the HL saw it, the only change in the outcome would have been a double foul and the opponents wouldn't have got a first down because the down would be replayed.

We stuck to the facts and that's what we put in the game report (#10 punched his opponent in the head). In your situation, if they want to bring up other stuff that had nothing to do with the DQ, then I wouldn't even respond. Not because I have an attitude problem, but it appears they want to start some kind of dialog that has nothing to do with the DQ and they are questioning your ability to call a contest. At least that's my take on it.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by timharris

I have officiated football for over (12) years at different levels such as High School and Semi pro. This past weekend I worked recreational football here in Virginia, and one of my crew members did bot show up, so we were forced too a (3) man system. I immediately got both coaches together and explained that we do not have to play if you gentleman decide not to and they both decided to play the game. It was a really good game going into the 4th the score was 0-0, the final was 6-0. In the 4th quarter I ejected (1) offensive player and (1) defensive player for fighting and today I receive an email from the league committee stating the team is appealing my ruling on the field.

What's at stake? Player suspension? A fine? No cookies after the game?

Did you agree to both officiate a game and help administer their league regulations? IMO if you didn't agree when you officiated to also be a witness for purposes of their regulations, then when the final whistle blows your memory of the game is wiped. That's not only to keep them from taking advantage of you, but also for the practical reason that unless you are forewarned to memorize events as they occur, your memory of them might not be so good.

Robert

[Texas Aggie]

Let's start with basic questions that Robert hints at:

-- who is the committee
-- what is their role, if any, in the league or your assignment process
-- what happens if you do respond
-- what happens if you don't respond

Make sure whoever sent you the letter has some authority or ignore it completely. I had a coach in basketball years ago come up to my partner before our game (holiday tournament) telling us he was evaluating us for UIL (Texas state assn.). I told my partner to blow him off as he was full of crap. The UIL wouldn't have a coach of a playing team do any actual evaluating, and the only reason they'd be evaluating us was for state tournament work. They do that in the regional playoffs, not non-district tournaments.

My point is that this sounds like similar BS.