Flag Weekly Bull 4/28/26

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FLAG FOOTBALL COACHES – Coover Weekly Bulletin 4/28/26

The purpose of these emails is to keep us all informed as to pre-season and in-season adjustments, issues as they arise.  If you are no longer in need of these emails please let me know and I will remove you from the list.  If there have been changes to the head coach and/or AD, please let me know that as well and I will make the necessary adjustments.  Thank you! - Steve

Pre-Season Conference Meetings – It now appears that all pre-season conference meetings with the head coaches will be in August.  Tom Ables, Katie Ott and I will be in attendance if there are no scheduling conflicts between conferences.

Katie Ott – Katie is one of the finest, and most experienced, flag officials in the Nation.  She was recently selected to work the NCAA Girls Flag Football Championships at IMG Academy in Florida!  We are lucky to have her in San Diego and she will begin providing instruction, instructional videos and feedback to officials and coaches in support of my efforts as the Instructional Chair for San Diego Sports Officials.  Working together we hope to provide weekly instructional videos to our officials, making every effort for continuous improvement in fairly and consistently officiating this wonderful sport of Girls Flag Football.

New Rules 2026 -

  1. The committee approved a procedure to allow for the team trailing in score to attempt a high risk play in order to maintain possession following a score.

  2. Increased the total number of time-outs charged per half from two to three so as to give each team an extra opportunity to stop play each half with an additional time-out.

  3. Following a safety, the team whose goal line was involved shall put the ball in play by a scrimmage kick from its own 20-yard line.

New Mechanics 2026 -

  1. We will be positioning both flank officials on the line of scrimmage, not downfield.  The Line Judge will be on the home sideline and will start all plays on line of scrimmage (unless a special circumstance dictates an adjustment, where the Line Judge will be positioned at the line to gain a first down…see #2 below for an example)

  2. Special Play Following a Score – this will be a 4thdown play from the 20-yard line and the line to gain will be the 40-yard line.  We will position the Line Judge on the 40-yard line to start the play.

  3. The Line Judge will start on the goal line when the ball is snapped between the 5-yard line and the 10-yard line.

  4. Both officials will move to the goal line immediately following the snap when the ball is snapped between the goal line and the 5-yard line.

  5. The Head Line Judge and the Line Judge will be deep on declared punts.

REMINDER ON 4TH DOWNS:

At the conclusion of a 3rd down play that ends short of the line to gain, the referee will turn to the offensive sideline and ask, “Punt or Play?”  The flank official on that sideline will ask the same question.  If the coach of the team on offense does not answer, the referee will ask one more time.  If there is no response, the referee will mark the ball ready for play and the offense must play (not punt) within 25 seconds.  If the offense then chooses not to play, they must call a timeout and then declare they wish to punt.  Remember, after receiving the snap, the kicker has 5 seconds to punt the ball, or a delay of game penalty will be called, and the clock will start on the next snap.  Finally, if the offense declares that they are punting, the referee will mark the ball ready for play (25-seond play clock).  Then the referee will observe the defense to see if they are substituting as a result of the offense’s choice to kick the ball.  If they are subbing, the referee will hold up the snap giving the defense adequate time to substitute.  But the referee will not hold up the snap beyond the 20-second mark thus giving the offense time to snap the ball and provide the 5-seconds to kick the ball.  All of this is necessary to prevent illegal consumption of time by the team ahead in the score.

Scholarships - Annually, the SD County Football Officials and their Youth FUND awards the “George A. Schutte Memorial Scholarship” and other “Kickoff” scholarships to deserving high school senior football players that have been nominated by his/her coach having demonstrated that the individual has attained a high degree of academic, athletic, community and leadership abilities. The Selection Committee of the San Diego Youth Football Fund will select the individuals chosen after a review of his/her qualifications.  The Criteria that will be utilized in determining the award will include the following:

All you and your athlete need to do is:

- Complete the application

- Obtain 2 letters of reference

- Return it all to the address on the application by May 30th

We have been able to fund almost every completed application so don't hesitate to nominate and get your athlete to submit it all on time! Good luck! - Steve Coover