{"id":26454,"date":"2022-10-09T11:00:22","date_gmt":"2022-10-09T15:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/articles\/4-questions-a-referee-never-wants-to-ask-2\/"},"modified":"2022-10-09T11:00:22","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T15:00:22","slug":"4-questions-a-referee-never-wants-to-ask-2","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/articles\/4-questions-a-referee-never-wants-to-ask-2\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Questions a Referee\u00a0Never Wants to Ask"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>here are four questions that no\u00a0referee wants to ask when a\u00a0foul has been called. That\u2019s because\u00a0they should have been asked and\u00a0answered by the calling official\u00a0before he reported to the referee.<\/p>\n

The four queries are: Who\u00a0committed the foul? What was the\u00a0foul? When did the foul occur?\u00a0Where did it occur?\u00a0Let\u2019s break those down and see\u00a0why they are so important.<\/p>\n

Who?<\/h2>\n

Was the foul on the\u00a0offense or defense? Once the referee\u00a0knows that, he can start to think\u00a0about the enforcement process.<\/p>\n

Getting the number of the\u00a0player who committed the foul is\u00a0paramount, especially if you must fill out a penalty report after\u00a0the game. Coaches don\u2019t think we\u00a0got it right when we don\u2019t have\u00a0a number. In a basketball game\u00a0you can\u2019t say, \u201cI\u2019ve got a foul on\u00a0somebody, but I don\u2019t know who\u00a0it was.\u201d If an official can\u2019t figure\u00a0out the number, it raises questions\u00a0as to whether there was a foul at\u00a0all. Get the number and everybody\u00a0is happy. But if you don\u2019t get the\u00a0number, never guess or make up a\u00a0number. It will come back to bite\u00a0you.<\/p>\n

The referee doesn\u2019t want to\u00a0hear, \u201cPass interference,\u201d and\u00a0nothing else. When the calling\u00a0official throws a flag and it is\u00a0during a pass play, the anticipation\u00a0is that it is defensive interference.\u00a0Don\u2019t anticipate because it may\u00a0be offensive pass interference and\u00a0that must be told to the referee by\u00a0the calling official. Nothing worse\u00a0than a referee giving the pass\u00a0interference signal against one team\u00a0and then learning it was against the\u00a0other team.<\/p>\n

What?<\/h2>\n

What was the foul? The\u00a0more specific the description, the\u00a0better. Don\u2019t report \u201cHolding\u201d and\u00a0leave it at that. Put it in one of the\u00a0categories of holding. \u201cHolding,\u00a0offense, number 75. Grab and\u00a0restrict.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the penalty varies due to\u00a0the nature of the foul, report that\u00a0as well. In NFHS, if there is a\u00a0facemask foul, was it incidental or\u00a0was it a personal foul? If there were\u00a012 players on the field during a live\u00a0ball, were all 12 participating or\u00a0was one trying to get off the field?\u00a0Those are major differences and the\u00a0referee should not have to ask if the\u00a0foul calls for a harsher penalty.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget to include what\u00a0happened on the play. Referees\u00a0have their own areas of coverage\u00a0and often don\u2019t see everything\u00a0that occurs during the down. If\u00a0the foul was committed early on\u00a0a play that wound up in a change\u00a0of possession, the penalty options\u00a0change drastically. Give the referee\u00a0all the information he needs.<\/p>\n

When?<\/h2>\n

Was it a live-ball or\u00a0dead-ball foul? Was the ball loose\u00a0or in possession? Status of the\u00a0ball when a foul occurs matters a\u00a0great deal as it helps determine the\u00a0enforcement spot and whether the\u00a0clock will next start on the ready or\u00a0the snap.<\/p>\n

Where?<\/h2>\n

Did the foul occur at\u00a0the line of scrimmage? Did it occur\u00a0in advance of the end of the run?\u00a0Did it occur behind the play? The\u00a0referee shouldn\u2019t have to waste\u00a0time asking those questions.<\/p>\n

The answers to four questions\u00a0after every foul could mean the\u00a0difference in a well-run game\u00a0or one that falls apart from the\u00a0perception of the crew not knowing\u00a0what is going on.<\/p>\n

Certainly, part of the\u00a0responsibility for correct\u00a0enforcement lies with the referee.\u00a0The referee may not have listened\u00a0to the information.<\/p>\n

A screw-up on the field is\u00a0usually caused by poor crew\u00a0communication. That major\u00a0problem can be corrected by a good\u00a0pregame meeting of all officials.\u00a0If officials can\u2019t communicate in a\u00a0meeting it is a good bet, they won\u2019t\u00a0be communicating on the field. The\u00a0penalty reporting procedure should\u00a0be reviewed in the pregame. If it\u00a0wasn\u2019t, the referee has nothing to\u00a0complain about.<\/p>\n

Communicating is the key. If the\u00a0calling official can\u2019t answer four\u00a0one-word questions before reporting\u00a0to the referee, your game will go\u00a0south in a hurry. But a positive\u00a0response builds credibility. Start\u00a0by answering four little questions\u00a0before reporting any foul.<\/p>\n

The post 4 Questions a Referee\u00a0Never Wants to Ask<\/a> appeared first on Referee.com<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are four questions that no\u00a0referee wants to ask when a\u00a0foul has been called. That\u2019s because\u00a0they should have been asked and\u00a0answered by the calling official\u00a0before he reported to the referee. The four queries are: Who\u00a0committed the foul? What was the\u00a0foul? When did the foul occur?\u00a0Where did it occur?\u00a0Let\u2019s break those down and see\u00a0why they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":527,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26454","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/26454"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/26454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}