BAFRA Newsflash 37/06

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ISSUE 37/06	18 October 2006

DISCIPLINARY CASES

NAME	#	TEAM	CODE	Q	OFFENCE	SUSPENDED
17 September
NONE

GAME MANAGEMENT REPORTS

HOME TEAM	REPORT	NEXT HOME GAME
17 September
NONE

ELITE TRAINING DAY REPORTS

The Elite Programme Training Day at Heathrow on Saturday was well attended and all those who were there judged it a success.

The presentations given can be found on the web at http://www.bafra.org/members/training/bep2006/ (members only).

Thanks to Davie Parsons for organising it and giving a very thought-provoking presentation on keys, to Keith Wickham for providing the video, to Steve Tonkinson for his excellent role-play exercise, and to everyone who attended for contributing to a stimulating day.

Jim Briggs
president@bafra.org

EFAF OFFICIATING 2007

The BAFRA Selection Committee will be required to nominate Great Britain's quota of EFAF officials at some time between now and the end of the year. We don't yet know what the quota will be – it may be greater or less than this year's 4.

As I explained to everyone present on Saturday (see my presentation for details), the Selection Committee will use a set of criteria to pick the best officials for EFAF.

The first of these criteria is a willingness to be considered. Elite Programme members who wish to be considered for EFAF should apply to the Chairman of the Selection Committee, Pete Thom (operations@bafra.org), before 31st October. Please state how many years of officiating experience you have. Existing EFAF officials must re-apply.

Under EFAF regulations, anyone who is selected who didn't attend this year's clinic in Milan needs to be available for the EFAF Officiating Clinic to be held from January 19-21 2007 in Dublin (Ireland), as well as being over the age of 21 and in good standing with BAFA. An ability to hold/follow a pre-game in English will be assumed!

BAFCA CONVENTION

On Sunday, I represented BAFRA at the BAFCA Coaches Convention in Leicester. It was a very good event with many coaches being trained up to level 1 and level 2 standard, as well as a number of open presentations by British coaches, Americans (including former Claymores coach, Jim Criner) and me!

I spoke about BAFRA's attempts to recruit more members and to better train the ones we've got. Our initiatives were warmly supported and the coaches present offered help where they could.

In a question and answer session, the main concern shown by coaches was about officials who were unable or unwilling to explain calls during the game. I noted that we had issued a document (http://www.bafra.org/rulesctee/docs/talking2officials.htm) offering guidelines on how coaches and players may seek to obtain clarification of officials' decisions during a game without attracting a penalty. While the officials should not delay the game unnecessarily, they should take what opportunities there are to inform the head coach of what they've seen or called, particularly when it is a complex or unusual situation. Communication is an important officiating skill.

Jim Briggs
president@bafra.org

JIM'S JOTTINGS

On the BAFL forum (http://www.gridironuk.co.uk/talk/index.php) recently, there has been some discussion about penalties for celebrations. While some contributors were critical of the flags thrown by officials in recent games, others (and not just the officials who joined the debate) were supportive of applying the rules as they are written.

As a refresher, the relevant rule is 9-2-1-a, which reads:

No player, substitute, coach or other person subject to the rules shall use abusive, threatening or obscene language or gestures, or engage in such acts that provoke ill will or are demeaning to an opponent, to game officials or to the image of the game, including but not limited to:
1. Pointing the finger(s), hand(s), arm(s) or ball at an opponent, or imitating the slashing of the throat.
2. Taunting, baiting or ridiculing an opponent verbally.
3. Inciting an opponent or spectators in any other way, such as simulating the firing of a weapon or placing a hand by the ear to request recognition.
4. Any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player (or players) attempts to focus attention upon himself (or themselves).
5. Obviously altering stride as an unopposed runner approaches the opponent's goal line, or diving into the end zone when unopposed.
6. Removal of a player's helmet before he is in the team area (Exceptions: Team, media or injury timeouts; equipment adjustment; through play; between periods; and during a measurement for a first down).
7. Punching one's own chest or crossing one's arms in front of the chest while standing over a prone player.
8. Going into the stands to interact with spectators, or bowing at the waist after a good play.
No person subject to the rules, except players, officials and eligible substitutes, shall be on the field of play or end zones during any period without permission from the referee. If a player is injured, attendants may come inbounds to attend him, but they must obtain recognition from an official.
After a score or any other play the player in possession immediately must return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot. This prohibits:
1. Kicking, throwing, spinning or carrying (including off of the field) the ball any distance that requires an official to retrieve it.
2. Throwing the ball high into the air or out of the field.
3. Any other unsportsmanlike act or actions that delay the game.

The penalty for any of the above is of course 15 yards from the succeeding spot (UNC). Players who infringe this rule a second time (or flagrantly once) must be disqualified.

We also have some guidance in the Rules Application chapter (section 3.4) of the Mechanics Manual:

Only penalise spiking after a score if it taunts an opponent. It need not be intentional, but does have to be in the direction of an opponent.

Celebration is different from taunting - be more tolerant of it. A "sack dance" over a tackled opponent should always be penalised.

Do not penalise a player or team twice for the same act or series of acts. Normally, all unsportsmanlike actions by the same team during the same down, or period between downs, will result in the enforcement of only one 15-yard penalty.

Players who inadvertently (unthinkingly) remove their helmets on the field of play should not be penalised unless they are (i) directing anger or criticism at an opponent or official; or (ii) celebrating. Remind them to keep their helmets on. A player removing their helmet in the vicinity of the sideline just prior to entering the team area should be ignored.

There is a danger that because this coming weekend's games are bowl games and will be played in front of a bigger audience than usual, that some officials will think that rules such as this one should be called differently. That is not the case. We should call it the same as we have done all season.

GOOD LUCK

Good luck to all the crews for this weekend's games, including the three bowl crews and the crew doing the youth game precursor. Let's be proud of them and support them in their high-profile task.

If you're not on the crews, come along anyway and watch. I'm sure that there will be a "BAFRA section" in the crowd, sharing comments on the action, and learning by observing.

The action starts at 4pm on Saturday and 12 noon on Sunday. The venue is Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield. Bring a friend – you never know, they may become a colleague!