As fans we watch football on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. And when we are not watching live games we are watching replays. The only problem with all of that is if you watch that much football you have to somewhat know three different sets of rules. Most of us THINK we know them but the reality is we don’t. I thought I did. Right up until the day I decided I wanted to be a High School football official. After one meeting I knew I really didn’t KNOW football. Oh sure I had played a little, watched a bunch. Had season tickets to Clemson for years but nothing could prepare me for the task I was about to undertake.
From the first moment I stepped into that class room at the end of April, that’s right, April. I knew I was in for an experience. They handed me a rule book. It’s a little book. Only 5 X 7. And it only contains ten rules. Only ten you may ask. Yep, only ten. Those ten however, are 100 pages of information. Everything from how to mark the field to how to officiate six player football games. There are uniform requirements, definitions, timing rules, downs, ball statuses, kicks, snaps, passes, touchbacks, touchdowns, penalty enforcement, spots, well you get the picture. And if that is not enough there is the mechanics manual, no not a repair manual, but a manual that instructs the official where they need to be on every type of play, signals by which to communicate, how to move the chains, what grooming requirements, etc. So as you can see there is a lot of information to comprehend. A daunting task. Thankfully there are experienced officials to help you learn all of this information. You sit through weekly meetings and listen to all of these experienced officials talk of things that happen during the games and try to apply the rules to what they are saying. So after a summer full of meetings and trying to comprehend the rules and nuances of the officiating vocation, you are rewarded with a trip to Columbia where the commissioner of the South Carolina Football Officials Association administers a test. What a reward! The test is only 100 true/ false questions. 100 questions where words like ALWAYS, ILLEGAL, LEGAL, NOT, ANY, MUST, SHALL, MAY are used as weapons to ensure that you really are sure of the rules. This is where you realize that you STILL don’t know football. A passing grade will allow you to get on the field where all of your hard work and commitment through the summer can now be applied to the fun stuff, actually being on the field to call a scrimmage. Wow, you may say, you actually get to officiate a scrimmage. Surely you didn’t think you just walked out on the field for the first time to officiate an actual game. Scrimmages are fun. You are finally on the field seeing snaps. Seeing football from the stands as a fan is a lot different than seeing it from field level. Add in the fact that you are now looking for fouls and the game moves ALOT slower from the stands. The play comes at you at what seems like a really fast pace. Because of that perceived speed you as an individual begin to move at a fast pace. Even after all of these years when I am helping a new official I notice how they tend to be hurried. It’s just natural but you have to learn to slow the pace. You are not there alone. There is an experienced official with you to help you so that makes it easier but it is still challenging those first few scrimmages. Oh, and by the way, you realize you STILL don’t know football. You know more than you did when you started in April but you realize there is still a great deal left to learn. Once the scrimmages are done you finally move to officiating real games. No not 5A games, but 7th grade, 8th grade, C team and JV games. Maybe even little league games. Any game you can call just so you can see snaps and hone your craft. When I became an official it was three years before I received my first Varsity assignment. And even then it was as a fill in for someone that turned their game assignment back in. But I was ready, nervous, but ready. I had studied hard, done well on the exam, learned from many experienced officials and now it was my turn to apply what I had learned. Real games at the varsity level are different than all of the other classifications. They are more formal. The intensity level is taken up a notch or two. The coaches are more engaged. The fans are more engaged. To quote the SEC mantra, “IT JUST MEANS MORE”. So as an official you have to raise your game and awareness to that level. Not an easy task when your first varsity assignment has thrown you into a 3A rivalry game. But you do your best. Luckily you are part of a team of officials that realize one of their primary responsibilities is to support each other. You make it through the game without incident but still realize there is a great deal you STILL don’t know about football. Yearly you follow the same routine. Meetings beginning in April. Exams taken in July. Scrimmages in August. Games beginning in August running through October, and if you are fortunate, playoffs in November and December. All of that is worth the effort though when the opening kickoff on a Friday night game is about to happen. You stand looking at the field and know for the next 2 1/2 hours you will be a part of something special. Whatever game or level you are officiating the attitude should be that this the most important game being played. There are a lot of great people in officiating. They strive to get the call right. They WANT to get the call right. It doesn’t matter to them who wins or loses. The just want it to be a fair competition and they realize that without the officials, it’s just a scrimmage Actions and decisions come as instinct. You have to see it, recognize it is against the rules, and make a call in a split second. Was the ball in the air? Did he hold? Was his initial contact in the back? Did that player’s helmet contact the other player’s helmet? Flags may come late but you are processing what you saw. As fans we want that flag to be quick. We saw the foul, how can the Ref not see that? It clearly happened. A great deal about calling a foul is being in the right position and having the correct angle to see the contact. I remember I was four games into my seventh season when started to feel comfortable being an official. And yet after 16 years I realize there are STILL things I am learning. There will be things that happen that I have not seen. I am better equipped than when I started but I always learn something in every game. As fans we want to question the official’s judgment, knowledge, even their heritage. We want to scream and yell at them. That’s OK. As officials we all know that is just part of the game. You can’t have thin skin or rabbit ears and be a good official. So in the coming season when you are watching that little league, sub-varsity or varsity football game and want to blast that official, go ahead. It’s part of the game. But, remember, at one time they thought they knew football too. I encourage anyone who is interested in becoming a football official to contact someone in your area about joining the ranks. We always need good people.
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TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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