OCFOA Weekly Bulletin for the Week ending 10-20
Blow the Whistle on Cancer! – OCFOA is donating $500 to the V Foundation this week and we are asking our officials to consider donating their game checks to the V Foundation this week. We have a goal of raising $4000 to donate to the V Foundation.
The V Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to saving lives by helping to find a cure for cancer. It was started by legendary basketball coach Jim Valvano and to date, the V Foundation has awarded over $225 million in cancer research grants. 100% of direct donations benefit cancer research and programs. Not one single cent of any donation goes to operating expenses.
Coaches and Athletic Directors, if you would like to help us reach our goal we would be very interested in partnering with your ASB to raise funds at the game. An announcement before the game and at halftime regarding what we are attempting to do would be great but not mandatory. The announcement could be as simple as telling your audience what OCFOA is doing and if they want to donate in any amount they can Google “Blow the Whistle on Cancer” and follow the link to the V Foundation website. Feel free to contact me directly at mandews92626@gmail.com if you would like to assist or have any questions or concerns. We will be encouraging donations throughout the month of October.
Ejections – Officials, if you eject a player or coach at any level, you MUST file a CIF ejection report within 24 hours. The ejection report is hosted on the CIF website. There is a link and instructions for logging in to the CIF ejection report on the OCFOA website. Be sure to call Speed Castillo after you have submitted the report. I strongly recommend saving a copy of the ejection report for your records.
Please also fill out an incident report on the OCFOA website so we have an idea of what happened should we be contacted by the schools.
Catch/Muff/Fumble and First Touching –Good time for all BJs and LJs to review catch/muff/fumble and first touching. Catch – we’re slow to rule so as not to blow an inadvertent, kick has ended. Muff – the ball is live, the kick has not ended, and either team can recover (kickers may not advance). Fumble – kick has ended, either team may recover and advance. First touching – kick has not ended, R can advance after 1st touching, bean bag indicates the spot of first touching (unless K has blocked or pushed R into the ball). R has the right to take the ball at the spot of first touching unless R has fouled after first touching or a penalty is accepted for any foul committed during the down.
Hurdling – The rule book defines hurdling as “Hurdling is an attempt by a player to jump (hurdle) with one or both feet or knees foremost over an opponent who is contacting the ground with no part of his body except one or both feet.”
Officials are still struggling with this foul. There are instances where the runner starts the hurdle before the player is in front of him and officials have used that to avoid the flag. Many times the defender is going low to make the tackle and a part of his body (hand or knee) contacts the ground during the hurdling. None of these are reasons to pass on the foul.
The rule is intended to protect the offensive player, not the defensive player. While the defensive player could potentially be injured, the offensive player is a risk of an uncontrolled fall if he is contacted at the apex of the hurdle.
The NFHS recently considered legalizing hurdling and in fact, were ready to do so until they heard testimony from a leading neuroscientist who described the type of trauma that can result from an uncontrolled fall. These uncontrolled falls and resulting contact with the ground can lead to a catastrophic injury. The NFHS reversed course and affirmed their position that hurdling is illegal.
We officials want to discourage players from hurdling. I know it’s an ooh-aah moment for the spectators and it’s a display of athleticism, but it’s also a potential horrific injury.
Film – Thank you to all the schools that have been sending in your film each week. The crews review their games and use what they see to improve. If you have sideline and endzone views of your games, please send both. Fouls like holding, pass interference and blocks below the waist are much clearer oftentimes from the endzone view. Please encourage your film crews to use the highest resolution that their cameras support.
If you have any concerns or questions on particular plays, please don’t hesitate to include them with your film or email me directly at mandrews92626@gmail.com. I need to know the play #, what the concern is and an email address to respond to.
OCFOA Plays of the Week – I just released Episode 6 of the OCFOA Plays of the Week, watch it here https://youtu.be/3pzY2cKrR4w
Mark Andrews
OCFOA Instructional Chairman
