Commissioner's Corner
Finally, we may have turned the corner with the cold weather, but perhaps not the April showers. We have completed our first week of District play and things seem to be going well. I want to thank everyone for being flexible with all the rainouts and picking up extra games due to reschedules. Hopefully, things will settle down more and we will be get games in as scheduled. Here are several points that I would like bring to everyone’s attention.
· HS Exam Results – The HS Exam with answers has been posted on the website. I have emailed everyone except the late test takes their scores with questions missed. Please review your answers. I know that there are several poor questions, but the exam is written according to the Federation Rule Book.
· Comments from Coaches – I have gotten mostly good feedback from the coaches and ADs’. The only negatives have been for people being late or showing up at the last minute. Please allow sufficient time to get places, especially on Fridays.
· Time Keeping – If the stadium clock is NOT the official time and you are keeping time on the field, please make sure you let the coaches know where you are with the time, especially near the ends of the halves and the game is very close. If you are using the stadium clock to keep running time, make sure everyone knows how much time is left after the stadium clock runs down to 1 minute or zero.
· Reporting Red Cards – I had a red card from a game Thursday evening reported on Saturday. The schools have 24 hours after the match to get the cards in or they get fined. Please get the cards in on time, especially now since teams may be playing the very next day with make-up games.
· Leaving the Bench and Entering the Field of Play – We had an incident where a player left the bench and entered the field of play while an altercation was taking place between two players on the field. This is NOT a simple matter of entering the field without permission; this is LEAVING the bench during an altercation and is an AUTOMATIC RED CARD not a simple misconduct!
· District/Regional Playoffs Northern Region - Due to SOL testing, the Northern Region has changed the times of their District and Regional Playoff games. Doubleheaders during the week (except Fridays) will start at 5 PM. Please see if you can make arrangements to leave work early – we will need a lot of referees due to the large number of teams in the Districts (everyone) and Regionals (32).
Thanks again for everyone’s support. Please keep Jeff informed on changes to your availability so can assign/reassign games in a timely manner. We are at a very tense time of the season where schools are fighting for regular season championships and a higher seeding for the playoffs. Please be patient, understanding, on time, and continue to be the BEST team on the field.
The Commish
· HS Exam Results – The HS Exam with answers has been posted on the website. I have emailed everyone except the late test takes their scores with questions missed. Please review your answers. I know that there are several poor questions, but the exam is written according to the Federation Rule Book.
· Comments from Coaches – I have gotten mostly good feedback from the coaches and ADs’. The only negatives have been for people being late or showing up at the last minute. Please allow sufficient time to get places, especially on Fridays.
· Time Keeping – If the stadium clock is NOT the official time and you are keeping time on the field, please make sure you let the coaches know where you are with the time, especially near the ends of the halves and the game is very close. If you are using the stadium clock to keep running time, make sure everyone knows how much time is left after the stadium clock runs down to 1 minute or zero.
· Reporting Red Cards – I had a red card from a game Thursday evening reported on Saturday. The schools have 24 hours after the match to get the cards in or they get fined. Please get the cards in on time, especially now since teams may be playing the very next day with make-up games.
· Leaving the Bench and Entering the Field of Play – We had an incident where a player left the bench and entered the field of play while an altercation was taking place between two players on the field. This is NOT a simple matter of entering the field without permission; this is LEAVING the bench during an altercation and is an AUTOMATIC RED CARD not a simple misconduct!
· District/Regional Playoffs Northern Region - Due to SOL testing, the Northern Region has changed the times of their District and Regional Playoff games. Doubleheaders during the week (except Fridays) will start at 5 PM. Please see if you can make arrangements to leave work early – we will need a lot of referees due to the large number of teams in the Districts (everyone) and Regionals (32).
Thanks again for everyone’s support. Please keep Jeff informed on changes to your availability so can assign/reassign games in a timely manner. We are at a very tense time of the season where schools are fighting for regular season championships and a higher seeding for the playoffs. Please be patient, understanding, on time, and continue to be the BEST team on the field.
The Commish
