Iwfl

[LouisianaDave]

Have any of ya'll ever reffed in the womens football league. If so tell me what i should expect, I have a feeling I know what it is, but Im curious if anyone on here has ever done it.

I have a game as a LJ this upcoming sat. Wish me luck, lol

[Jim D]

I've done a few - it's an experience. The level of talent is extremely varied. I probably need to say that again - the range is really wide. Some players are good, but most aren't. For example, the first game I worked I thought they were trying on-side kicks - then I figured out those were their regular kicks.

Mainly I enjoy working the games. The ladies are fine and it's fun, low pressure plus it's the only game in town this time of year.

Passing and kicking is sub-par. The running game can be pretty good. Blocking is a little sloppy but acceptable.

If you have to seperate players - watch where you put your hands!

[Jim D]

Here is a link - They've got some pictures of games - I don't think they have any videos

http://www.stlslam1.com/slam1/

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by LouisianaDave

Have any of ya'll ever reffed in the womens football league. If so tell me what i should expect, I have a feeling I know what it is, but Im curious if anyone on here has ever done it.

I'm not an official, but I've watched a lot of games in the IWFL and WPFL; none in the NWFA (though I might this year) or WFL. After they moved to the IWFL the NY Sharks cheaped out on officials and went to 4 man crews at home, which was bad news for them because they adopted a pass-heavy attack starting in 2002, since they had one of the few really good passers in women's football.

This year the IWFL, which grew a lot at the expense of other leagues, has split into 2 tiers of competition. Hopefully that'll make for fewer runaway games, because as another poster mentioned, the skill level varies enormously.

I have a game as a LJ this upcoming sat. Wish me luck, lol

OK. Which game are you covering?

As with men's minor league football, the rules are usually based on one or two of the major US codes with a few "gotchas" that lead to officiating errors the audience & players often don't notice or will easily forgive. The officials tend to think of everything as Fed + exceptions regardless of what the rules base actually is for that circuit.

Robert

[LouisianaDave]

I am doing the Louisana Feul vs the Clarksdale Foxes. From what I gather its a tier II game which is for lower skilled players. The only real rule difference I can see is that there is no free blocking zone. If you can tell me any other differences that you know about I will make sure to pass it along to my crew come Saturday night.

[Jim D]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

As with men's minor league football, the rules are usually based on one or two of the major US codes with a few "gotchas" that lead to officiating errors the audience & players often don't notice or will easily forgive. The officials tend to think of everything as Fed + exceptions regardless of what the rules base actually is for that circuit.

Robert

That's my biggest problem with both the women's and the men's league. They decide they have to use NFL rules (with lots of exceptions), but they rely on NF & NCAA trained officials so there is more confusion than necessary. They'd be better off using NCAA or even NF rules, but I guess that doesn't sound as cool.

[shave-tail]

I did a full season last year in KC. I did enjoy it, but like an earlier post you must read the rules.....and some are not really clear. We had success with the pregame talk and discussed how "WE" interpeted the leagues rules.

You will see varied levels of talent but the overall play and skill level will be around HS freshmen.

Remember that these women for the most part are paying to play (quite a bit if I remember) and that they are adults, and for some this is the first time in pads.

Preventative officiating, I found was appriciated from the coaches and players.

For the most part, it's really not that bad of football and the ladies that are there really have a passion for the game.

Have fun and good luck.........

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by Jim D

That's my biggest problem with both the women's and the men's league. They decide they have to use NFL rules (with lots of exceptions), but they rely on NF & NCAA trained officials so there is more confusion than necessary. They'd be better off using NCAA or even NF rules, but I guess that doesn't sound as cool.

Approx. 30 years ago I tried to compile all the minor league football rules I could, and what you write above was true even then. If you asked them, they'd tend to say they used the previous year's NFL rules strictly; then they'd remember, "Oh yeah, except...", and then if you kept the conversation going long enough they'd remember more exceptions, insisting at every stage that was all. The way to do it right would be to incorporate a major rules code by reference and write specific amendments to it; however, many of them only had informally-stated rules departures.

Some of them, however, were systematic. The Northern States Football League stated their rules several ways on paper, as departures from NFL, NCAA, and Fed rules, and recommended officials study their departures from Fed, which were thoroughly described, because they knew most officials were most familiar with Fed rules.

It was interesting to see certain rules that were common to minor leagues only. For instance, many allowed only a 1 point try if from the 2 yard line, but allowed a 1 or 2 point try if snapped from (or behind) the 3 yard line. You'd think they'd all snap from the 3 to preserve the threat, but believe it or not, they snapped from the 2 when kicking the point. Go figure.

Very few minor leagues and associations of same in the USA write their own complete rule books. A few years ago the USFA wrote their own, including as an appendix exceptions for the WPFL. For the men's rules, USFA used NCAA as a base with some from NFL, but didn't incorporate either by reference.

Also a few years ago the IWFL tried writing their own rule book. It was a disaster. Absolutely useless, a joke. They cut & pasted from NCAA & NFL, did the world's worst layout & editing, added a bunch of stuff for further confusion, including regulations that didn't belong in playing rules, and it was full of contradictions and impossible to get answers from, let alone quickly. None of their officials actually used it AIUI; I think they just wanted to say they'd published (Cafe Press) the first rule book specifically for women's football. I didn't see the next year's, but I'm told that while it fixed some things it made others worse. I don't remember if they kept up after that.

IMO if a league wants to write easy-to-understand football rules, they should start with the Fed rules from 30 years ago when they'd reached the pinnacle of clarity, and modify from there. Of course to keep from messing it up while amending to suit, you might have to resurrect the editors from that era.

As to the substance of women's football rules, for several years we've been getting an experiment regarding the knees. Because of the proneness of women to ligament tears, IWFL has been the most restrictive, prohibiting all blocking below the waist. NWFA has been most permissive, permitting exactly the BBW allowed in NCAA. WPFL has been intermediate, allowing blocking only as low as the thighs, and that low only in the initial line charge by players who are not moving downward, and otherwise no BBW.

Robert

[parepat]

I would try and work Umpire so I could check the EQUIPTMENT