All high school officials should be intimately familiar with the National Federation’s Game Officials Manual. But there are many, many situations covered only briefly, if at all, by the NF Manual. In such cases, Indiana officials were left to struggle as to the proper way to officiate those situations. Crews dealt with those situations in a variety of ways, something that does not serve one of the IHSAA’s critical objectives for its football officials: Consistency. But that is about to change.
Many states publish officials’ manuals that supplement and augment the NF Manual. Indiana has now joined the ranks of those states that provide additional assistance and guidance to football officials, well over and above that provided by the NF Manual.
On Monday, June 14, the IHSAA will make available on the my.IHSAA officials' dashboard “IHSAA Football Officials Mechanics and Best Practices For a Crew of Five.” It will become the “Bible” for high school football officiating in Indiana, providing both a standard to which officials can work, and specific criteria on which performance is to be judged. The IHSAA will notify all officials of the Manual’s availability online.
As officials download and familiarize themselves with the 93 page Manual, please post observations here. The Manual is a work in progress, and will be regularly updated. But the important thing is we now have a comprehensive set of practices which will help every crew officiate the game better, and provide a more consistent officiating product. I expect it will have an immediate positive impact on the quality of high school football officiating in Indiana.
I’d enjoy observations, especially from the coaches’ viewpoint, on this watershed development in football officiating.
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Bobref
All high school officials should be intimately familiar with the National Federation’s Game Officials Manual. But there are many, many situations covered only briefly, if at all, by the NF Manual. In such cases, Indiana officials were left to struggle as to the proper way to officiate those situations. Crews dealt with those situations in a variety of ways, something that does not serve one of the IHSAA’s critical objectives for its football officials: Consistency. But that is about to change.
Many states publish officials’ manuals that supplement and augment the NF Manual. Indiana has now joined the ranks of those states that provide additional assistance and guidance to football officials, well over and above that provided by the NF Manual.
On Monday, June 14, the IHSAA will make available on the my.IHSAA officials' dashboard “IHSAA Football Officials Mechanics and Best Practices For a Crew of Five.” It will become the “Bible” for high school football officiating in Indiana, providing both a standard to which officials can work, and specific criteria on which performance is to be judged. The IHSAA will notify all officials of the Manual’s availability online.
As officials download and familiarize themselves with the 93 page Manual, please post observations here. The Manual is a work in progress, and will be regularly updated. But the important thing is we now have a comprehensive set of practices which will help every crew officiate the game better, and provide a more consistent officiating product. I expect it will have an immediate positive impact on the quality of high school football officiating in Indiana.
I’d enjoy observations, especially from the coaches’ viewpoint, on this watershed development in football officiating.
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