JustRules

There are two formats approved and the coaches much choose one of them. One involves kicking plays and the other doesn't. Both have sets for "reserves". It doesn't say varsity #2, JV, or freshmen. I'm sure that varies. It's not something the officials worry or care about. It seems like the coaches have always talked through this before the scrimmage. I've sensed they usually have JV in one segment and freshmen on the other. The varsity sets may mix 1s and 2s.

Comments above in red. Great observations and feedback.

You said Franklin and Washington Township districts are hanging by a thread and they are the only ones doing that well. You have clearly given up on them existing. That makes it pretty clear you consider them horrible and they need to go away. What else are we supposed to assume. It's very obvious you are not a part of any of these districts and your opinions are based on anecdotal information and data that doesn't tell a complete story. The districts are doing very well including children of low income and single-family parents. Some struggle and some don't just like any other district. What do you propose to fix the problem you perceive?

So you are saying any school district that doesn't have mostly two-parent households with college educated adults placing a high priority on education are horrible school districts that are barely hanging on. Should we just remove all those people from society so we only have A+ schools? That seems to be your solution based on what I'm reading. If that's not what you mean you aren't representing your position very well.

I had a longer response to your comments but it's obvious you aren't in education or understand how or why the grading systems work. A good analogy is you are saying the only people who have success on a football field are those who play on a team that makes it to a regional final. Everyone else is failing and should give up now. That is an absurd statement and anyone who is involved with any level of high school athletics knows is not true. The grading system benefits schools and systems that already good students from stable backgrounds. The less common that is the harder it is for a school to earn the top grades. A township or urban school to get a B or C grade would be similar to a team that has the talent to win 3 or 4 games in a season to reach a sectional final. That coach would be given major praise and kudos for doing that. If you spent any time in any of these districts and saw the programs they were providing and the success a large number of students were having you would be impressed. Some students will not be successful academically regardless of how much you provide for them and support them. IPS has many amazing teachers and administrators and their students are succeeding in all walks of life including academically. But if you only see the HS got a D from the grading system created to make them look bad then you will assume anyone from an IPS school is dumb and a failure. Fortunately I know that is far from the truth.

You realize North Central has one of the best tennis programs in the country and they are always a top contender in their swim sectional? They both do very academically as well. I know several families in both districts and their students are doing very well. The IOA game away 6 scholarships 2 weeks ago and 2 of them went to FC grads. While the township schools have more challenges than the suburban districts like Zionsville and Carmel, they are far from struggling. A couple years ago Lawrence was actually one of the fastest growing districts in the state despite having very little new development. Two reasons were families attending private schools choosing to return to public schools and students in nearby districts attending because of their outstanding programs. If you only look at macro data you don't get an accurate picture of what's happening in a district.

Based on what?

My kids attend one of the Marion County public schools mentioned in this thread. The school is far from dying a slow death. In fact they are thriving. They don't win championships in many sports because only 1 team out of the 30 or 60+ in each class does that. State championships is a horrible measure of success or failure. I believe this school has won sectional championships in like 10 of the 16 sports in which they compete. That's a very impressive record considering the level of competition they play in those sectionals. All of the district public schools are excelling with students academically and have some of the best and most progressive programs in the state, even better than many wealthy suburban schools. The economic diversity of most of the township schools is amazing and those students are far better prepared to function in a diverse society when they graduate. This isn't a knock against Carmel, CG, and others like them. There isn't much negative you can say about those schools and the students who graduate from them. But to say the county public schools are dying a slow death is a very naive statement.

As long as we don't have to stick our arms in front of us on the wing to indicate we have a legal formation (or whatever reason they do it) I'm good. From what I've heard they do have some weird mechanics but the officials I've talked to enjoy having a standard and being held accountable to that standard. If you don't follow it you don't advance. They have a much different process, one of which includes assigned as individuals and not having to work every round to get to the finals. Someone could work the first round and a semi-final. And you know when you are working before the tournament starts.

In summary, get jerseys that will cover the shoulder pads and can be tucked in. Make sure the numbers are solid and contrast with the jersey. Make sure the pants are long enough to cover the knees of the tallest player.

Most of what affects officials between the start and end of the game are the rules and those are mostly dictated by the NFHS and not IHSAA. A couple areas where the IHSAA can differ is the mercy rule and OT rules. Those are largely left up to the states to implement. I like the mercy rule the IHSAA put in a couple years ago. It seems to be working fine. OT doesn't happen often and in general the version the IHSAA uses seems to be fine. They use the recommended NFHS procedures outlined in the rule book. Some states start at the 25 rather than the 10. One thing I would like to see are more standard philosophies stated by the IHSAA. There are many gray areas in the rules that can be standardized more by the IHSAA. For example, intentional grounding. The rule clearly states that if a passer is intentionally throwing the pass incomplete it's a foul. Throwing the ball at the feet of the running back is obviously done to save time or yardage or both. But most referees won't flag that. Same with throwing the ball well out of bounds 10 feet of the head of an eligible receiver. That is less consistent. Some pass on it because it was in the direction of a receiver. Some flag it because it landed on the track. What philosophy does the IHSAA want us to follow? They should provide that and then evaluate crews based on how they follow it (per bobref's comments above). That kind of inconsistency drives coaches nuts when it's easy to provide an interpretation or philosophy. The IHSAA just says "what does the rule book say?" I understand the IHSAA (through the observer program) is working on some standard mechanics and philosophies. I hope this helps. The IFOA has attempted to do this, but they have no authority over the crews and only 10-15% of the licensed officials attend their clinic every year. Many of the very good crews in the state through apply what they've learned from the IFOA. One thing I think the schools could provide is better security for the officials going to and from the locker room during the game. Many provide someone to walk with the crew so there is at least a presence. Often times though we are walking through crowds on our own. I love the schools where the locker room is under the bleachers or an end zone building where fans are not allowed. I've never been really threatened by a fan walking through the crowd, but you never know. It only takes one crazy fan.

This is similar to the NCAA rule. The slight difference is if the ball touches the ground in the end zone prior to being touched by a receiving team member, it's an automatic touchback. If the return team player muffs it in the end zone or or field of play and it goes into the end zone, it's still a live ball and can be downed for a touchback. That's what I would prefer if given the ability to write the rule.

I learned recently there is a football showcase for players no longer in college but not currently on an NFL roster. There are 4 teams playing in Indy each week. The next games are this Saturday at 3p and 7p at Lucas Oil Stadium. The 3p game is nationally televised on Fox and the later game on FS1. https://thespringleague.com/ A couple local players on the rosters: Reece Horn (Linemen) - Cathedral/UIndy Deontez Alexander (Alphas) - Manual/Franklin

In NCAA you can fair catch anywhere inside the 25 and get it at the 25. It has reduced the number of returns in college, especially on kicks into the corner. I can see the NFHS rules committee adopting it if they want to reduce the number of touchbacks on kicks. They addressed a safety aspect by providing less of a running start, but almost every kickoff is returned in HS football unlike other levels where touchbacks were already much more common. I've never seen any actual evidence of a larger number or more serious injuries happening on kick returns compared to other plays, but it does make sense. Real data would be helpful though.

Not directly. You get it through your cable or streaming provider and most include it. I think you also get it if you have an ESPN+ subscription. I use the ESPN app on my phone or Roku or the ESPN web site on my laptop. The teams are Lindsey Wilson from Kentucky and Northwestern College in Iowa. Both teams are appearing in their first national championship game. It looks like this may be the actual link from your browser. https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/679663a8-9931-41d5-a7d7-b9499f9c637d

Admins may want to move this to The Next Level forum but I thought it would get a little better visibility here. The NAIA National Championship game is tonight at 7p ET on ESPN3. We received an email this morning from the IFOA letting us know the officiating crew consists of 7 officials from the Indianapolis area. These officials all worked HS football games in Indiana recently. Many of them worked games last Fall since their college season was delayed. They work primarily in the GLVC and Mid-States conferences during the season. The referee tonight was the back judge in the 2A championship game in November! Congrats to these officials for such a great honor.

I believe you are correct. Another thing the NFHS rules committee is big on is keeping the rules as simple as possible. Unlike the NFL and NCAA the NFHS has a wider variety of ability of officials. Learning all rules is complex so if they can keep things simple they will prefer. That doesn't mean all rules are simple, but if there is a way to keep things simple they will do it. In this case, any time a kick crosses the goal line plane it's a touchback and the ball is dead. In NCAA and NFL there are many other factors to consider (touched by receiving team, airborne vs. touching in EZ, free kick vs. scrimmage kick, etc.). Most levels are trying to reduce the number of kick returns so anything they can do to reduce the number will probably be strongly considered. Allowing returners to bring a ball out of the end zone would increase the number of returns. That being said, I think a returner should be able to bring a kick out of the end zone.

I can see both sides. Charging a nominal fee would still incentivize people to attend the game in person if they are local. It also allows the schools to generate some revenue for the athletic program including money to help cover any costs associated with the broadcast. But offering the stream for free is good to raise more awareness of casual fans and allow family around the country to more easily see their family member play. I appreciate the schools/services that make their games available on demand so we can watch the game we work to get additional views than what Hudl provides. It can help us review our work. Many were doing that.

Generally less concerned about numbering rules below HS if both coaches are aware. The same is usually true in frosh/JV as well. In a varsity game this is much more strictly enforced although I've had a couple games where we ignored it. One involved city schools and they didn't know which players would show until they got on the bus. Both teams had the same issue so they were fine with it. We had #75 throwing passes to #64. It was very strange. We also had a game that was in running clock mode where they wanted to send in #46 to play RG on the last couple drives. We did check with the other coach and he was fine. We could have possibly made him change jerseys, but there was no need to be strict under the circumstances.

Bob is correct in that you can still have a bunch kick as long as 4 players are on either side of the kicker. I believe the rules committed has considered and states are experimenting with a rule change to require a 2-yard spread between all players on the kicking team as well. That seems pretty hard to enforce other than "are the players generally spread out?"

I know Wayne, Washington, Warren all have excellent career and technology centers that are also open to neighboring districts. They have everything from "shop" classes to engineering to business to culinary arts to beautician. Students who attend these classes learn valuable skills and unique college prep opportunities.

Generally not true. The more you officiate the more those plays really slow down. It's often more about angle and judgement. You also only have 3 officials trying to watch 5 eligible receivers in routes. You try to focus on the likely match ups and go back and forth in your area of responsibility. The good news here is the IHSAA has full authority to modify OT rules. The NFHS publishes a recommended OT procedure that many states follow, but they are allowed to use whatever they want. I know of other states that start at the 20 or 25 instead. I believe some allow the defense to score on a turnover. I've never heard the IHSAA has seriously considered a change, but if the IFCA were to propose something I'm sure they would probably consider it. Yes, there are circumstances where the offense could be awarded a new first down and your example is one of them. Interestingly it will always be first and goal regardless of the situation. Let's say in your example the offense lost yardage through penalty or sack and were kicking a FG snapped from the B24 that results in roughing the kicker. The penalty would be half the distance to the B12 with an automatic first down. But it would still be first and goal and not first and 10.

As an official who schedules games 4-5 years in advance and then loses games regularly because conferences realign or change schedules I can tell you this happens often. Some years we've lost 3-4 games. Each year there is at least 1 game changed/cancelled.

All of these plans assume the premise the only way to have a successful season is to win a championship. There are other ways to measure success. High school sports are much more than just winning championships. My children all had wonderful high school athletics experiences and the most they won was a sectional championship. I've never officiated a state championship and probably never will. It doesn't mean I consider my officiating career a failure.

From what I understand this is true. Some states have expanded their interpretation to define "immediately" as requiring the blocker be in a 3 or 4-point stance at the snap. Indiana generally doesn't expand on what the rule says so as long as it's immediate it won't matter if they are in a 2-point stance.