Punt Return Penalty

[bcl1127]

I have officiated in this league in the past, you need to have 8 on the line and only 3 back for punts at your level. Here is a copy from the rule book (see Bold section):

Section 13. Featherweight Level Rules
A. Punting
A team must inform its opponent and the officials of their intention to punt.
Contact may not occur on a punt until after the ball has been punted. This is a free kick
with no rush allowed. The punter must kick the ball from a minimum of five (5) yards
behind the line of scrimmage. The punting team must line up in a punt formation and snap
the ball from the center position. There will be no live action until the ball is kicked.
However, if the snap is errant, the ball must be kicked from a minimum of five (5) yards
behind the line of scrimmage. The punter may not walk up and take the ball directly from
the center and walk back with it. A long snap must be attempted on every punt. The
receiving team must line up with eight (8) players on the line of scrimmage and three (3)
players in the secondary.

[HLin NC]

Could I make a suggestion? For potential local rule variations, why not contact your local supervisor of officials instead of throwing your organization's name out for scrutiny on a national message board. The vast majority of people here probably have no idea what the TCYFL is nor what local variations they use no more than I expect them to know about the WNCYL and its differences.

Better yet, obtain a copy of those local rules and review them at your coaches meeting in pre-season.

Game day is a bad day to be learning something.

[bcl1127]

Originally Posted by HLin NC

Better yet, obtain a copy of those local rules and review them at your coaches meeting in pre-season.

Just an FYI, I downloaded the rulebook from the league's website and pasted the rule. It was fairly easy to find. I have worked in that league in previous years, so I was familiar with the rules, but your point is very well taken.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by HLin NC

The vast majority of people here probably have no idea what the TCYFL is

Sure we do - I used to work there. It's "The Colony Youth Football League" and it's based in northwest Dallas, Texas. Surely there's only one of this acronym out there.

(That said, +1 to HLin NC - questions about local rules should go to those localities. If you're going to blast your local league's insane rules (something we all do from time to time, self included), don't mention the org.)

[Robert Goodman]

Heh...in our 11.5Us game to defend a punt, the officials made us line up with 4 on the DL instead of the 3 I'd coached them to...and which we'd used in the previous 2 games with no problem!

To tell the truth, I'm really never sure which rules are official as administered in our organiz'n, and which ones are just administered that way because of officials' misunderstanding. This season they seem to be putting emphasis on illegal formation, which they whistle as the ball is snapped. That may be our organiz'n rule, or maybe the officials just misinterpret Fed rules that way; I suspect the former, to give the coaches and kids a break, because it's coming up a lot and it'd be pretty awful to allow play to proceed and team B decline the penalty.

If the TCYFL is who I think they are, they have a lot of idiosyncratic rules.

[MikeStrybel]

Originally Posted by HLin NC

Could I make a suggestion? For potential local rule variations, why not contact your local supervisor of officials instead of throwing your organization's name out for scrutiny on a national message board. The vast majority of people here probably have no idea what the TCYFL is nor what local variations they use no more than I expect them to know about the WNCYL and its differences.

Better yet, obtain a copy of those local rules and review them at your coaches meeting in pre-season.

Game day is a bad day to be learning something.

There is no 'local supervisor of officials' available to us. Multiple assignors fill these games and I know most. I spoke directly with the league director about rules being misapplied this season and he credited it to official's inexperience and inconsistency between assignors. This was an away game for us and the crew was all non-varsity guys. I suspect that a lack knowledge of appropriate penalty was the culprit. As a staff, we don't argue calls in this league. As a fellow official, I respect that they may make mistakes. I simply sought clarification from the board.

I saw the rule on our house site but as another mentioned, no penalty was mentioned. Further, scrutiny is applicable - it is not a blemish on the league, as I praised the officials here and have prior on this site. I find the vast majority of them to be excellent and for another to insinuate that I blasted them or disparaged the league is wholly inaccurate and a bit thin skinned. For the record, I just became an IHSA football official this year as a way to familiarize myself with NFHS rules. I could not find relevant rules within their books so I asked here. As was evidenced by other posts, the officials likely erred in assessing penalty. Hopefully they will now learn something. I did and appreciate the help from those of you who offered it.