New Officials Lesson 1 – Basic Rules Knowledge – How to Study the Rules for Practical Applications

Where to Begin - 1 of 3 The rules of high school football are complex, not especially easy to read and differ in many details from the rules used in the college and professional levels. Yet, each high school football game must be called by officials with a competent working knowledge of the high school rules. Given that each local association is given a set of manuals for each official by GHSA, and this may be the only individual documentation available to the new official, how should this material be studied most effectively? Generally our choices of these limited number of publications boils down to the Rules Book and the companion Case Book.

Where to Begin - 2 of 3 The best place to start is with the Rules Book. This book is organized with many different sections. There are places for changed rules, Fundamentals of the rules of football, annual points of emphasis, summaries of penalties required for the various fouls and a chart of standardized signals. Most notably are the 10 “rules” (or chapters) that provide the bulk of the detailed rules applications. EVERYONE needs to study the rules. Most of your time studying the rules should be away from association meetings. If anyone tries to march sequentially through the Rules Book from cover to cover, he is setting himself up to fail in his quest for knowledge of the rules. Don’t try to learn the rules that way!

Where to Begin - 3 of 3 GHSA recommends, but obviously does not require, that the rules be learned in a convenient order that begins with basic building blocks and moves in stages to more comprehensive knowledge of the rules and their application. Here is the recommended order: – Rule 2 – Definitions – Fundamentals – Rule Changes for the current year – Points of Emphasis for the current year – Some specific rules (more on this covered in Lesson 2) – The balance of Rule 1 and Rules 3 through 10

Rule 2 - Definitions Almost, but not all, the terminology the new official needs to know relative to the Rules are found in Rule 2. Rule 2 lists its topics in alphabetical order. This is probably as good an order as any in which to read this “chapter.” In just about any other context, the Definitions would be called a Glossary of Terms. It is particularly useful in reading the Rules to have a good working knowledge of the terms. Here’s a great example. From a rulebook point of view, there is no such thing as a “Defensive Lineman.” Instead what we commonly call Defensive Linemen are actually just “defensive players on the Line of Scrimmage.” This makes “Lineman” an offense, only, term. And there are very specific requirements about how a “Lineman” must line up to be legal.

Fundamentals Toward the back of the Rules Book (around page 80 most years) are two pages of “Fundamentals.” Here are listed some 10 Fundamental categories. These categories layout in a simple order HOW the rules work. In sense, this might be considered a “summary” of the rules, as well, though this wouldn’t be precisely accurate, either. These are the 10 Fundamental categories: I.PossessionVI. Scrimmage Kicks II.DownsVII. Passes III.Dead BallVIII. Blocking IV.Kicks – GeneralIX. Fouls V.Free KicksX. Penalty Measurement

Rule Changes and Points of Emphasis Right up front in the Rules Book (page 2) are a couple of pages devoted to summarizing both the current year’s rule changes and the points of emphasis adopted for the current year. Aside from their importance in keeping everyone’s knowledge and focus on the most important aspects of the rules and rules changes, we can always expect that the tests we’re required to take will have at least some coverage of these two areas. Much more detailed coverage of the these areas will be found toward the back of the Rules Book, generally right behind the Fundamentals section. The exact page numbers are listed at the front on pages 2 and 3.

Specific Rules We’re going to mention several rules here that every official needs to know and be familiar with, even the most junior one. Some of these are pretty complex, though. So, we’re going to actually discuss them in a separate session, Lesson 2. These are the rules we’ll cover there: – 2-13 – all articles – a – exception – 4-2 – all articles – and – and 9-9 – and a

The Other 9 Rules - 1 0f 2 The authors of the Rules Book probably had some idea of the way they wanted to present the rules. Their order is fine for looking up a particular point. But this order is of little help in learning the rules in the first place. Getting an understanding from the Rules Book, alone, is a thankless task. Read Rule 1 and Rules 3 through 10 in whatever order makes most sense to you. Use of the companion Case Book is helpful in seeing how to apply the rules to specific game situations. Wait to get into the case book at least until you think you understand the Definitions and Fundamentals pretty thoroughly. Finally, use of other supplementary reading such as the $10 (or so) “Rules by Topic” or similar publication can help a lot!

The Other 9 Rules - 2 0f 2 The other 9 Rules (Chapters) of the rule book are: 1 – The Game, Field, Players and Equipment 3 – Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions 4 – Ball in Play, Dead Ball and Out of Bounds 5 – Series of Downs, Number of Down and Team Possession After Penalty 6 – Kicking the Ball and Fair Catch 7 – Snapping, Handing and Passing the Ball 8 – Scoring Plays and Touchback 9 – Conduct of Players and Others 10 – Enforcement of Penalties

Review / Summary New Officials need to have a basic understanding of the Rules of high school football. Largely, this understanding will come from study away from your association’s training sessions. Rule 2 and Fundamentals are the most important parts of the Rules Book for EVERY official to understand. Every official should have a Rules Book and companion Case Book. Use the Case Book to help understand rules applications AFTER understanding the basics of the Rules, themselves. Get exposed to as much supplementary material as you can afford. “Rules by Topic” is one such source that makes rules study much easier.