SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION - THE WEEKLY BULL - August 13, 2025
1st and 2nd Year Classes – Meet at Mira Mesa – We’re nearing the end of your meetings every week. You’ve done a great job with your attendance, which is important as we get you prepared for your clinics and scrimmages. Then you’re ready for some youth games! Keep up the great work! Remember, 1st year officials do not take any of the exams...I mean you can take them, but your score will not be recorded.
Flag Rules and Mechanics Test Has Been Sent Out – Those of you who are working flag football must take and pass the 50-item, true/false Qualification Exam. The link and directions were just emailed to you via Arbiter so dig in. It shouldn’t take you more than 10-15 minutes total but it is another great learning opportunity! Deadline is this Friday at Midnight. Don’t wait, get it done.
Back Judge Clinic! - This week we feature the work of our Back Judges. Thank you, Joe Greene, for hosting this important clinic, and we want you to know you are all invited to attend. As you know, Joe has just been hired into the PAC12 and we are so proud of his hard work and dedication to our Association. You can always find Joe on local TV talking up officiating and help us with recruiting. Now he gives back to our Association once again! Here’s the invitation: Back Judge Zoom Back Judge Position Meeting with Joe Greene August 13, 2025 7:00 PM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84870678456?pwd=unMZfYg7SaitsaeaRztJyxFyyEvkp7.1 Meeting ID: 848 7067 8456 Passcode: 901010 One tap mobile +16694449171
Thank You RefMasters – RefMasters is making the following video clinic open to all interested officials. All you need to do is create a RefMasters account. It’s free and easy. Refmasters.com/app. Thursday August 14th at 5:30 – 6:30 pm Sideline Situations: Timing, Positioning, and Presence with Brandon Cruz (NFL), Daniel Young (BIG12) and Tuta Salaam (BIG12) - Sideline plays aren’t just about forward progress. They’re full of nuance: the clock, the spot, the keys, the action after the action. They demand precision, awareness, and confidence—often in front of the loudest people in the building. Join NFL official Brandon Cruse for a RefMasters University film session focused entirely on sideline plays and everything that comes with them. We’ll break down real game film and dive into the technical and mental aspects of working the boundary—from pre-snap preparation to dead ball management. Here is a link: https://refmasters.app/posts/88699478?utm_source=manual
Video from Scrimmage – Most everyone should receive video from their scrimmage. Please let me know if your scrimmage didn’t show up. I’m sure it’s my fault somehow!
Scrimmages This Week – Good luck with your scrimmages. We finally get to work together, knock off the rust, and to discover areas where we definitely need to improve. Keep a record of your fouls and practice filling out a full foul report. Then, get those cut ups prepared for your mid-week (zoom?) meeting where you can do 30-minutes of video evaluation from the scrimmage, 15-minutes of individual and crew goal setting for the week, and then 15-minutes of looking at scouting film from the teams you’ll have opening week. Send me an email if you need some film.
Home Team Game Information – We’re formatting our information so that you, or your crew designee, can easily download the data into a form “letter” which can be emailed to the AD and Head Coach. It will be ready for use next week! We will not be needing this info for the scrimmages as we go dressed and meet on the field. Remember, scrimmage uniform is our full uniform including long pants. Bring your radios as well.
Clean Up Locker Rooms – Please remember to clean up after you finish using the locker room. We are guests of the school and always want to leave a good impression of our professionalism!
Reminder - Aiding the Runner – Coaches have been told that aiding the runner will be enforced if we see planned plays where the running back lines up behind the QB and just runs forward, places hands on the back of the QB and pushes. They were also told that it is legal to push the pile, and that if the is a question if the teammate is pushing the pile or pushing the QB, we will go with pushing the pile. Remember – be consistent as an Association. 5-yard penalty – Signal 44
“Coach, We Need Help With Your Player” – I was lucky enough to visit the North Bay Officials Organization in the Santa Rosa area where I asked several high school coaches how they liked to be approached with this request for help. All three stated that they would definitely want that request to come to them, not their assistant coaches. Good to know! Plus, even if they respond with their own request that you watch the other team’s player as well, it doesn’t mean that they didn’t hear the request, and that they don’t fully intend to help and do something such as pull their kid out of the game. Again, great advice!
2024 Ejection/Disqualification Procedure Steve Coover will coordinate ejections for all levels of high school football games (but NOT Youth Football). These procedures apply to all levels of San Diego Section, CIF Sanctioned high school games. Please refer to your applicable youth assigner for ejection procedures for youth games. Make sure that your ejection call can be supported by rule. Calling an ejection. Flag the play. Do not immediately eject the player. Discuss the foul with the crew-chief/referee and any other officials that saw the action. If the general consensus is that the foul should result in an ejection, the crew-chief and the official that called the foul should notify the offender’s head coach that the player has been ejected and the reason for the ejection. If the official that made the call is the crew-chief, he should be accompanied by the flank official on the side of the offending team. Although permitted by rule, do not eject a fan, parent, administrator or others that are not in the team box. Refer this ejection to the site administrator, or in the absence of a site administrator, to the home team head coach for removal of this individual. Reporting ejections: Call Steve Coover the next day, (619-921-3006), with the ejection. Go to the San Diego CIF website at www.cifsds.org Hover your curser over OFFICIALS and select EJECTION MANAGER On the next screen it requires your password which is: 123 Complete the form. When finished, select Steve Coover as the Liaison. Then press SAVE. You’re done.
Food For Thought – Interesting Play from Last Week: Fourth and five at team B's 30-yard line. A1 fumbles at team B's 20-yard line. The ball rolls to team B's 16-yard line, where B2 bats the ball. The ball rolls out of bounds at team B's 6-yard line.
Answer – I had to go to New Hampshire for confirmation on this one! - Illegal batting.
If team A declines the penalty, the result of the play is a forward fumble out-of-bounds from the 20-yard line. The illegal bat does not interfere with , or cause by rule, the ball to go out of bounds. So it would be Team A’s ball, first and 10 at team B's 20-yard line, returning the ball to the spot of the fumble which is still beyond the line to gain (25-yard line).
If team A accepts the penalty for the Illegal batting. It will be team A's ball, first and goal at B's 10-yard line. The end of the run is the spot of the fumble B 20-yard line, which is the enforcement spot for the illegal bat, 10-yard penalty.
