At this time, the plan is for a normal winter season. That means that practice will start for basketball on November 2nd. Scrimmages will start on November 9th. Preseason tournaments can begin the weekend before Thanksgiving. The regular season will begin on the Monday after Thanksgiving. The online NFHS certification exam will be available beginning Monday, September 28th. This testing… Read more »
Congratulations to all members of Board 403 who received assignments in either the Upper State or Lower State finals this coming weekend.
Playoffs – The State Tournament begins. Congratulations to all of you (and there are a bunch of you) who have received an assignment. Games may be more intense. Sharpen your focus. Remember that the rules do not change because we are in the State Tournament. Be consistent and true to the way you have officiated all season.
Last Two Weeks – We are heading into the final stages of the regular season for the schools. The regular season will end Friday, February 14th. Each game means more than usual for playoff positioning, region championships, etc. Games may be more intense. Fans may be more involved. Sharpen your focus. Sometimes even teams at the bottom of the region can… Read more »
Between Game Protocols – Please be reminded that the state protocols for the time between games of a doubleheader require at least one official to be present during the warm-ups for the second game. Once all three officials have exited the visual confines of the playing area to end their jurisdiction for the 1st game, one official should immediately return to… Read more »
Improvement – Hopefully, the goal of every official is to improve over last season. Recall your playing days when you wanted to continue to learn and improve daily and yearly. Apply those same concepts and practices to your officiating. Identify any rules, mechanics, signals/signaling that are weaknesses and work toward improvement.
Game Arrivals – For varsity contests, if possible, please arrive one hour before the scheduled start of the game. If something will prevent this, please make sure your partner(s) know. This will prevent scrambling around trying to find out where you are and when you will arrive. For lower level contests, please arrive 30 minutes before the scheduled starting time. Again… Read more »
Substitution Protocols When handling substitutions, we want there to be nothing else going on. Prior to granting a substitution request, the responsible official should make eye contact with his/her partner(s) to ensure this fact. Once the responsible official has determined that it is appropriate to bring subs in (ball is not live, no foul needs to be reported, the current… Read more »
Stop Clock Signal – All whistles require a stop clock signal that involves raising your arm. Either your hand will be open (violation/held ball) or a closed fist (foul). This includes plays where the ball goes out of bounds. This is a violation and requires a stop clock signal. It also includes player control and blocking fouls. Using this approved… Read more »
Based on feedback from our observer as well as my own observations, we need to do a better job of dealing with coaches and the coaching box. In some observed games coaches from both teams were constantly on the court both during time when the clock was running and well as when the clock was stopped. This needs to be… Read more »
