SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION - THE WEEKLY BULL FOR FLAG FOOTBALL – September 29, 2025
Is This Football Legal? - by NFHS rules, it is not. The green makes it Illegal, even though the size is correct.
Can Shorts Have Stripes? – No, pants, shorts or skirts which shall not have pockets of any type, exposed drawstrings, belts and/or belt loops. The color of the pants, shorts or skirts shall be the same single solid color that clearly contrasts with the color of the flag and flag belt.
Size of the Flags - Flag size is a minimum of 1.5 X 14 and a maximum of 2 X 16. Check your flags to make sure yours are legal.
Contrasting Colors – If you’re designing / buying new equipment, and you are not sure if the colors sufficiently contrast, please feel free to contact myself or the CIF Commissioners for a ruling. Do this in advance so as to not spend money on illegal equipment and then suffer the consequences.
Failure to Properly Wear Required Equipment – All players must wear to flags before the ball becomes live. If any required player equipment is missing or improperly worn, there will be an official’s time out and that player will be sent out of the game. If this is a repeated occurrence, then a delay of game penalty may be assessed.
Illegal Contact - I continue to encourage players, coaches and officials to eliminate contact from the sport of flag football. The only contact that I can think of that would be unpenalized is when two or more players are attempting to catch or block a pass. There is no remedy for that form of contact. But blocking, running and flag pulling need to be without contact. Trust me, it is far better to penalize the contact than trying to determine what level of contact is legal, and what level of contact is not legal. Just make them all illegal and the players will adjust.
Losing Track of the Line to Gain – One crew came up with the idea to use a down indicator on their other wrist to keep track of the line to gain. GL – 20 - 40 – 20 – GL
Proposal for 2026 – We will be proposing a change in our 3-official mechanics for 2026. The downfield Field Judge is not providing as much from that position as they might from the line of scrimmage. Jon Cima, Scott Carroll, Bob Flavin, Steve Coover and Charlton Lynch will be on the committee that considers that, and other suggested changes to our mechanics. If you have a suggestion, write to one of those committee members.
Clock Operator Instructions – Attached is a card that can be helpful to the volunteer clock operator. You might consider printing it out and leaving one near the clock for your operator.
