As the regular season begins, here are a few general reminders regarding crew communication, incident reports and game cancellations.
Crew Communication
It is the responsibility of the UMPIRE (and FIELD JUDGE if a three man game) to contact the Referee no later then 72 hours before the contest and determine when and where the crew will meet and what they might wear. You may do this by phone or email. It is unacceptable for an official to contact their Referee at the last minute.
It is highly recommended that the Referee contact the home coach to confirm the time and location of the game, A good practice is the cc your crew. It is ultimately the responsibility of the referee to make sure his crew is ready for the game.
Coach Doe
I will be the Referee for your games against Small Independent School this Friday (February 22, 2016) at 6:00 pm. My crew and I plan to arrive at the facility by 5:30 pm. Please let me if there are any issues we need to be aware of or if there are any changes to the site or the start time.
We look forward to working with you.
Best,
B. Rubble
Officials are suppose to meet at the game site, no later then 30 minutes prior to face-off. Typically this happens at a predetermined spot in the parking lot at the game site. This pre-game meeting can also happen on the field, if one of the officials has the first game of a doubleheader.
Incident Reports
If you have a player/coach ejection or a special situation that requires reporting (serious injury, major field problems, major crowd control problems, protests, referee security etc…). The Referee is required to fill out the INCIDENT REPORT on the GLOA website. It is imperative that we identify any issues with fields EARLY in the season!
This report MUST be filed online within 24 hours of the conclusion of the contest.
Incident Reports from officials must be filed with the GHSA office ASAP for the following situations:
- Ejections – Be certain to cite the full name, jersey number and school of the ejected player or the name and school of the ejected coach and specify the behavior involved in a brief, professional manner.
- All protest situations – be certain to indicate the time at which the formal protest was lodged and the rule application that was protested.
- Any pre-game or post-game problems involving players, coaches, and/or fans.
- Any problems related to field/court conditions.
- Failure to provide adequate security for officials at the game site by host management.
- Any major injuries requiring extraordinary attention.
NOTE: It is not necessary to report sportsmanship violations that do not result in ejections.
The Game Reports should be factual narrative without editorial comments that thoroughly describes the actions involved. Be sure to get the names of any persons involved; rather than write Blue #15, instead write John Doe, #15 for the Blue team.
These reports are sent to GHSA and passed along to the principal of the school involved along with a letter from the Executive Director of the GHSA. A copy is kept by the GHSA as well as the GLOA Board.
Cancellations
In the event that a team wants to cancel a game due to weather on game day, the home Head Coach is required to contact the game officials. They are obligated to continue to call the officials assigned to the game by phone until they make contact.
Once you get the message, it is the Referee’s responsibility to contact his Umpire via PHONE and notify the GLOA assignors of the game cancellation via EMAIL to update Arbiter.
After calling your partner, a simple email note to the assignors as follows should suffice:
Big Time High School Coach John Doe called this morning at 11:00 am to cancel today’s (Feb. 21, 2016) Varsity and JV games with Small Independent School. I have already contacted my partner Fred Flintstone.
Sincerely, B. Rubble