So you think you know more than the Ref?
Posted by Robert Chambers
on Jul 24, 2012
Brett Lambrecht, a certified high school varsity official for both football and basketball gave Wahpeton Rotary members an officiating 101 course at their regular meeting at Prante's Tuesday July 24th. Officials do not just wander in off the street; they are trained, in shape and certified. He described how the officiating crew divides responsibilities before a game. High school varsity football now has five officials on the field and basketball three. The field or court are divided into areas of responsibility and some are fixed but in some cases, particularly basketball the movement of officials and areas of responsibility change with the play.
They try to do what he called "preventative officiating" by offering players some leeway. In basketball any touch is technically a foul; however the official determines it it was an inadvertent touch or did the player gain an advantage by the touch. In football a player may have grabbed onto the jersey of an opposing player but it happened so far away from the ball that the opposing player could not possibly have become involved in the play. In that case the official speaks to the player who grabbed and watches to be sure he is not creating an advantage by this or persisting in it. Safety of the player is a big concern and and officials are very strict about behavior that could cause injury and is against the rules.
There were many question and expressions of concern about concussions and about parents and their inappropriate behavior at games. Brett laughed at one point saying that on occasion players had come to him and apologized saying that the person yelling in the stands was their father or mother and they were embarrassing the player.
They try to do what he called "preventative officiating" by offering players some leeway. In basketball any touch is technically a foul; however the official determines it it was an inadvertent touch or did the player gain an advantage by the touch. In football a player may have grabbed onto the jersey of an opposing player but it happened so far away from the ball that the opposing player could not possibly have become involved in the play. In that case the official speaks to the player who grabbed and watches to be sure he is not creating an advantage by this or persisting in it. Safety of the player is a big concern and and officials are very strict about behavior that could cause injury and is against the rules.
There were many question and expressions of concern about concussions and about parents and their inappropriate behavior at games. Brett laughed at one point saying that on occasion players had come to him and apologized saying that the person yelling in the stands was their father or mother and they were embarrassing the player.