SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION - THE WEEKLY BULL – Sept. 16, 2026
Meeting In-Person at Mira Mesa High School This Week – See you ALL this Wednesday 9/16 at Mira Mesa HS. Agenda: Attendance (check yours for accuracy), Sharing Game Situations, Calibrations, Instructional Video, and Game Situations
Board Meeting This Wednesday – The Board Meeting will take place at 5:15pm in Room 706.
Crew Chief and Instructor Meeting – The regularly scheduled meeting of all Crew Chiefs and Instructors will take place at 6:00pm in room 708.
Game Check Weekend - This weekend 9/17-9/19. Please assist our Fund and make a contribution from a game check this weekend. To see all that we do go to sdyff.org for our programs that we sponsor for our football community. You can also donate online through our site under Fundraisers tab. Crew chiefs who organize their crew and make a crew donation will be eligible for a Fund sponsored after game dinner as a thank you to the crew that contributes the most, $30/official max for your meal. We ask that everyone consider donating this year to help our fund continue our philanthropic endeavors, whether on a crew or not, affiliates, retired members, any and all. No amount to small or large. All amounts are tax deductible. Contact Mike Downing or Mike Gunzelman with any questions, and thank you!!
Golf Tournament - Our annual golf/banquet events will be on November 4th at Admiral Baker. We are looking for sponsors who can put their logo on golf balls, towels, koozies, etc. which will be given to all players. Cost will be $2,000-$2,500 depending on which item you would like to put your logo or name on. Any extra items you sponsor will be returned to you for future events you may want to use them for. Please contact Mike Downing if you have interest in helping fundraise and promote your business. Golf registration will begin on October 1. 75% of your promotion cost will be tax deductible. Thank you for considering this 1st time opportunity.
Mid-Season Form – We now should be hitting mid-season form. Our Game Tempo, crew organization, communication and mechanics should all be coming together. We are now A CREW! Let’s keep ourselves sharp with weekly rules study, game preparation, and crew goals.
What is Your Weekly Routine? –Some things you can have in your weekly routine are: Study of a particular rule including case book examples Read the Weekly Bull and view the Instructional Video Make a phone call to a crew member or crew chief Review your dead ball and pre-snap routine Help evaluate last week’s game video Establish Crew Goals and Personal Goals Scout the next week’s teams Review our officiating standards and axioms Work on your fitness and flexibility
NFHS Football – Reminder, all legal footballs shall have the NFHS Authenticating Mark. Check you game footballs before the game.
Locker Rooms – Please, we’re getting accused of leaving the dressing area provided by the school, it poor condition. I again ask you to please look around to see that the bathroom is clean, toilet seat down and clean, and the shower is turned off. All trash in the trash can and all desks and chairs returned to the position they were in when you first entered.
Game Times – We are well informed by Tom Ables via Arbiter, what time our games are to begin. Do not hurry the start of the game in an attempt to get home a bit earlier. That would be a poor representation of the SDCFOA and our integrity. Only the head coaches, athletic directors, or school administrators, in total agreement between school representatives, can change the start time.
Halftime – For varsity games halftime is 15-minutes plus a 3-minute warmup. DO NOT shorten this to 12 + 3. Again our SDCFOA integrity is on display. Lower level games are 10 + 3.
Payment – Schools usually have 2-weeks to make payment if they use Arbiter. Do not bother schools inside this normal window. Thank you.
Unsportsmanlike Celebrations – We are doing very well in observing and penalizing excessive celebrations. We are not receiving any criticism, but I do want to remind crews that we are not looking into the team bench area for a foul. Celebrating in any manner in, at, or behind the team box is legal. Don’t hunt for fouls, let the fouls hunt you!
Time Outs – We tell coaches that if they need to get our attention for an important time out, that they can come out onto the field to get our attention so we can accurately stop the clock per their request. If a coach wants a time out just before the delay of game penalty, crews (especially flanks and referees) should assist the coach in making that happen. It all starts with an accurate play clock countdown signal from the Back Judge.
Towels vs Tails – I think we can improve in our monitoring of these “streamers” or “tails”. Towels must be a minimum of 4” in width. Let’s clean this up this week. Flanks and umpire, have something with you that is 4” in width so we can do quick checks before the game. Thank you.
Knee Pads – They sure are making small knee pads these days. As long as they are unaltered from the manufacturer’s original design, they will be legal. Thank you for continuing to work with coaches by sending out players that are not wearing the proper equipment in a legal manner. Keep up the great work!
Set the Standard for Your Sideline During Introductions – It is recommended that the flanks go together to meet with the head coaches. The LJ will introduce himself then introduced the HL to his HC. Somewhere during this quick conversation you will want to confirm with your head coach that “the play callers (OC and DC?) will be calling plays from a location off the field, right?” By phrasing it in this manner the HC must answer in the affirmative. Only once did I have a coach ask, “Well how far can we come on the field then?” I answered, “None, we’ll all be staying behind the sideline.” Get this agreement and you will all be on the same page when we begin the game.
Headsets Not Working – Just a reminder that we do not have any authority over headsets. If a team’s headsets go down, we can communicate the issue to the other side, but we cannot order them to take theirs off. There is nothing in the rule book on this issue.
Cross-Field Mechanics – Because we’re rounding into mid-season form, our cross-field mechanics should now be quite sophisticated and accurate. Take pride in this important mechanic! You are a team!
Keep Your Mouth Shut – “Silence can’t be quoted.” – Andy Castagnola. Please continue to be careful with any/all comments. Do not make comments to innocent spectators who might turn out to be the coach’s wife or a school administrator. Be extremely careful and professional when addressing players. What you think is an innocent comment can be reported as offensive or threatening. Keep all comments to yourself or save them for the locker room. And be careful when joking with your crew. Sometimes a clever remark can be offensive to your fellow officials. Just be aware and courteous!
Major Medical Incident – During the warmups of this game, the player collapsed and needed CPR and was life flighted for emergency care. Obviously all present were upset and worried for the student athlete and not interested in playing football. Our crew did the best they could by finding an area nearby as the helicopter was landing on the field. They stayed as long as teams and coaches were still in attendance. As everyone finished exiting the facility, only then did our crew leave. Very classy. Remember, following some form of disaster, serious medical emergency, or assault of some kind, we are not answer any questions from the media. Even the referee. All information will, and should come from the schools involved.
Keeping the Restricted Area Clear – We seem to be doing reasonably well with this thankless task. Our focus is on the field, but for safety reasons, the restricted area needs to be clear at the start of the play. So far so good! One thing to keep in mind is that it is the same for both sides. We are on the same crew, so do your crewmates a favor and do the same work for both teams.
Injury Time Out – Team personnel will be allowed to attend to any injured players and team support staff will be allowed to bring water to the team. Coaches must either be attending to the injured player or at the sideline (outside numbers) to address team or provide substitutes. No coaches will be allowed to confer with the team inside the numbers. And as always, the referee will decide if the teams can go to the sideline and the flanks will have their teams back and ready for the next snap immediately after the injured player is off the field. Tempo!
Crew Evaluations – We are now completing Week 5 of the high school season. Per Board direction, all crews are to be evaluated after week five and again at the end of the regular season. Each association crew chief is to rate the crew. If you are not working with your entire crew, make sure you rate that official(s) on another game. All completed sub varsity games and AYF/Pop Warner games should already be completed. Youth game evaluations must be up to date. First and second year officials in particular need feedback. For those of you who have requested to be youth referees, failure to complete evaluations in a timely manner will affect future assignments.
