DISCIPLINARY CASES

GAME MANAGEMENT REPORTS

PLAUDIT

A plaudit to Southern Sundevils and London Blitz who played an excellent, tense 6-3 thriller. Despite the pressure and the heat, the players and coaches on both teams were very well behaved and we only had 2 major penalties all game.

Jim.

DIRECTOR RESIGNS

Terry Treloar has informed us that due to personal reasons he is unable to continue as BAFRA's Director of Youth and Development. The Executive Board has reluctantly accepted his resignation and wishes Terry all the best for the future, both inside and outside football.

We therefore have a vacancy that the Board wishes to fill as quickly as possible. Anyone interested please contact me for an informal discussion.

Jim Briggs
president@bafra.org

IMPORTANT NOTE CONCERNING DOUBLE HEADERS

There has been some confusion this year as to whether both games in a double header should attract a BAFRA admin fee, and we have had to consult the minutes of past Board meetings to answer the question.

The answer is "no". Where a double-header is played (two games at the same venue covered by the same officials) only one admin fee should be charged. Where the admin fees for the two games are different, the higher fee will be charged and the lower fee will be waived.

The Annex to the Terms & Conditions on the BAFRA website is being updated to reflect this. At least one team that has been over-charged will receive a refund or a credit against their next game.

Jim Briggs
president@bafra.org

COACHES CARDS AND ASSESSMENTS

Over the last few weeks I have scanned and sent out by email all the returned Head Coaches Report Cards, about 24 in total. I indicated that I would do this on a trial basis for about 4 weeks and if successful then would continue to do so. So let's have your feedback.

• Has everyone been able to read the scans?
• Would you prefer a different file format or larger file size?
• Are you happy to receive the cards by email or would you prefer them to be made available at the Convention as in the past?
• Any other comments or thoughts on the subject?

Please send your feedback to training@bafra.org.

Remember, if you haven't received any cards by email that will indicate the Coach has probably not put it in the post. Make a point of reminding them, when you next work one of their games, that they should make the effort to complete and return the cards

I am also considering issuing Assessments by email rather than by post. 50% of our Assessors complete and send in their paperwork electronically on a Microsoft Word Document. The rest are hand written and returned by post. These could be scanned or converted to text files and issued by email. Some members may like the hard copy posted out for their own records, some may prefer to receive it by email. Let me know your thoughts on this topic as well as the Coaches Cards

My thanks to all those who have emailed back their comments over the last few weeks, it's appreciated

Davie Parsons
training@bafra.org

SECOND SCRIMMAGE KICK

I have received the following question from one of our newer officials: If Team A punts and the ball does not cross the neutral zone it continues in play. But can Team A punt again on that play?

In an attempt to come up with a definitive answer, I have consulted both the Rulebook and the oracle (Dr Jim).

The Rule book told me that in this circumstance the ball "continues in play" (Rule 6-3-1a) , and the oracle told me that "Rule 2-15-7 states: A scrimmage kick made in or behind the neutral zone is a legal kick by Team A during a scrimmage down before team possession changes. A scrimmage kick has crossed the neutral zone when it touches the ground, a player, an official or anything beyond the neutral zone. A.R. 6-3-1:I-V ".

Both the Rule and the oracle agree that the second kick is not illegal. It seems that the ruling is implicit rather than explicit in the rulebook. Similarly if this second kick does not cross the neutral zone then a third kick could legally be made, and so on ad infinitum...

ROSTER FORMS

We have been alerted that some BYAFA teams are providing roster forms without players' photos on them. From a BAFA (and therefore BAFRA perspective), this is perfectly OK - all we need is the name associated with each jersey number so that if we eject a player (or there is some other disciplinary rumpus) we know who he/she is. Leagues may require a photo, but it is not something the officials have jurisdiction over.

Jim Briggs
rules@bafra.org

SAFETY ON A TRY?

Play: Can Team B score a safety on a try?

Ruling: Texas scored a one-point safety during its November 26, 2004 battle with cross-state rival A&M. An attempted kick try by Texas went beyond the neutral zone. An A&M player recovered the loose ball, fumbled, and an A&M player recovered the fumble and was downed in this own end zone. Since A&M gained possession of the ball, the kick was over. Thus A&M was responsible for the ball being in its own endzone. The impetus was then from the fumble, when the ball became dead in the end zone in the possession of the A&M player, the result was a safety (8-1-1, 8-3-1).

Reprinted with written permission from Referee magazine.
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