Communication between football officials is key, both on and off the pitch. This is true whether your crew is new or has been together for a while. Tonight we had our first high school varsity football meeting of the 2009 season here at my house. After burgers and a couple of beers, we talk about our seasonal schedule and study for our next referee test.

If you’re involved with a varsity soccer team, make sure someone takes responsibility for scheduling these meetings; otherwise they just won’t come to fruition and you’ll miss out on building a really strong team. If you’re new and haven’t joined a real team yet, be sure to attend your local high school football association meetings weekly. Again, the knowledge and networking you gain from meetups is invaluable!

Some possible meeting topics include:

• field mechanics
• kicking game responsibilities
• rule review
• game time
• situations/scenarios from past games
• study of new rules or points of emphasis – the rules change sometimes annually
• pre-game talk – discuss game details
• Rule differences between 11 man, 6 man, etc.
• pre-kickoff responsibilities: who does what before and during kickoff (don’t look at the ball, look at the players while the ball is in the air)

Study – Yes, study! We study so that everyone is on the same page regarding the interpretation of the rules. It is vital that everyone working on a game, college or not, realizes that it is everyone’s responsibility to understand the rules. It’s not just the “JOB” of the umpire or umpire to know the rules; it is everyone’s responsibility. This is where we begin to communicate as a team and build trust and friendships.