OUTCOME OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION
The BAFRA Disciplinary Committee has considered two charges made against a BAFRA official under Article V of the BAFRA Code of Ethics which states:
"Sports officials shall protect the public (fans, administrators, coaches, players, et al.) from inappropriate conduct and shall attempt to eliminate from the officiating avocation/profession all practices which bring discredit to it."
The charges were brought as a result of a number of complaints BAFRA received from players, coaches and spectators.
The Committee found the official not guilty of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The Committee found the official guilty of urinating in public and issued them with a written warning concerning their behaviour.
Robert Friel
Chairman, Disciplinary Committee
THE END OF TWO ERAS
The past week has brought the announcements of the closure of two American Football institutions.
First of all the NFL has decided to close down NFL Europa (formerly called NFL Europe and before that the World League).
The decision isn't a big surprise - it has been losing money in large quantities for some time, and as Alistair Kirkwood, MD of NFL UK, said at the BAFA Convention at the weekend, the surprise is not that it has closed, but that it lasted this long.
From an officiating point of view, it obviously removes any hopes we had that the NFL would restore European officials to its crews.
A statement I've seen from the NFL officiating department to EFAF says that they hope to keep co-operating with us.
We'll have to wait and see how that pans out.
Secondly, there are reports that this week's edition of First Down magazine will be the last.
First Down has tried to be as supportive as possible of the British game, while acknowledging that its readers' main focus is always the NFL.
They've published most of BAFRA's press releases (normally unchanged).
However, it's salutary to note that none of the articles that have mentioned us in the past 18 months has resulted in anyone getting in touch because they wanted to take up officiating!
Of course, First Down's demise leaves a vacancy for Britain's widest circulation American football weekly.
What's the new leader? Well, you're reading it!
Jim Briggs
president@bafra.org
BAFA CONVENTION
Thanks to everyone who attended the training events held at the BAFA Convention last weekend.
The Officiating Mechanics DVD we watched on Saturday generated a lot of discussion as did the questions in the Group Exam and the presentation on the Captain's Options.
The Sunday session had quite a low turn out however we didn’t waste the time.
We took in every play on the EFAF 20006 Officiating Review DVD and spent some time discussing Penalty Enforcement, The Role of the Official and Rules Study.
Davie Parsons
training@bafra.org
BAFRA CONVENTION
A little note for your diary, next years BAFRA Convention will be held on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th April 2008.
I appreciate its 8 months away; however I have had to set the date early to ensure we don’t clash with the end of the College or the beginning of the BAFL season.
Davie Parsons
training@bafra.org
ROGER'S RHETORIC
| From last week |
Play:
A's ball, 4th and 6 on A's 38. B41 recovers the punt on B's 4 and his momentum carries him into B's end zone.
B41 tosses the ball from B's end zone to B31 who is on B's 2.
A24 bats the pass back into B's end zone where A26 picks up the ball off the ground.
Ruling:
Safety. B's ball, free kick, on B's 20. The pass from B's end zone by B41 to B31 is an illegal forward pass.
The batting of the pass in flight by A24 is legal.
The illegal forward pass is incomplete when it hits the ground in B's end zone.
Team A will accept the penalty. The spot of the foul, which is the spot of the pass, is in B's end zone. (CCA00105)
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| New this week |
A's ball, 4th and 12, on B's 45.
A8's untouched punt breaks the plane of B's goal line and is batted back into the field of play by A84.
B42 recovers on B's 4 where he is downed. B76 illegally blocks A84 in the back on B's 18 before the kick ends.
Ruling?
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TEAM PAYMENT STATUS
| TEAM NAME | LEAGUE | STATUS | COMMENT |
| Sussex Thunder
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BAFL
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Pre-paid
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Referee contact Director of Finance on Thursday before the game to arrange payment.
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DISCIPLINARY CASES
| NAME | # | TEAM | CODE | Q | OFFENCE | SUSPENDED |
| 1 July |
| NONE
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| Outstanding items from previous weeks |
| Darren CARR
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28
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Lancashire Wolverines
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TUF
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1
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Committed two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, verbally abusing referee.
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11/08/07
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| Note: it is the responsibility of the individual teams to ensure that their suspended players serve their suspensions in the proper game (according to the BAFA Disciplinary Code), and any dates mentioned here are intended only as a guide. |
GAME MANAGEMENT REPORTS
| HOME TEAM | REPORT | NEXT HOME GAME |
| 1 July |
| NONE
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| Outstanding items from previous weeks |
| Cornish Sharks
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Cornwall have rectified the problems reported previously.
The Pitch is now 100 yards long with 8 yard endzones. The trip hazard has been covered, or removed.
The shirts are still illegal by rule, but accepted by the league as previously reported.
Like to thank both teams for an excellent game in great spirit.
Charles Dean-Young #258
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08/07/07
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| Staffordshire Surge
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Only one ballboy was provided for the whole game, which was played on a 90-yard pitch with very long grass.
Muz Gibson #268
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08/07/07
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| Norwich Devils
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90yd pitch . No Game balls presented until we had to chase them again just prior to kick off. Crew waited 40 minutes to be paid , finally paid by a member of the team so we didn't have to wait anymore. No Changing room available had to wait for teams to move out to get changed. Change to chain crew at half time.
Martin Cockerill #345
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08/07/07
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| Cambridgeshire Cats
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Three small separate changing rooms available, but all of them have minimal seating and the shower and toilet are not in cubicles.
Essex kitted 18 players and requested to play with a running clock, Cambridgeshire agreed.
Half-time extended to 30 minutes by agreement of both head coaches.
Alan Dobson #308
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15/07/07
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| Chiltern Cheetahs
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Path intersects endzone, covered this with a crash mat and declared it out of bounds. Stanchion near end line padded. 1 ball person provided by Cambridge. Kick off delayed 6 minutes due to late arrival of ambulance. Pitch and dressing room problems from last week rectified.
Brian Yates #29
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15/07/07
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| London Olympians
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No ambulance and so no game.
Also, 9-yard marks were 10-yards from sideline, end-zones were 7 yards deep, goals were soccer goals with uprights attached, thus too wide and too low. Chain crew and ball-boys provided after normal kick-off time. One of the ball-boys appeared to be under 14 years of age. Balls were provided after normal kick-off time and were over-inflated.
Roger Stangroom #180
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15/07/07
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| Birmingham Bulls
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Some hashmarks in one endzone, some yard lines not always 1 yard apart, and no 5 yard lines. The Bulls did a good job of marking the field at the last minute due to original stadium being unavailable. Gateshead arrived late so game kicked off 3/4 hour late. We ran 12-minute quarters as the Bulls had the field for a set period of time.
Brian Yates #29
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21/07/07
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| London Blitz
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Game began 30 minutes late due to late arrival of ambulance. Ran 12 minute quarters.
Brian Yates #29
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22/07/07
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| Sussex Thunder
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Sussex provided the ball boy for their sideline but Colchester had to provide one for their sideline. Chain crew were provided only 5 minutes before kick-off. Chain crew were slow, but there were no willing replacements so we did not change them at half time.
Sussex ball boy is only 12 years old but he is good nonetheless.
Dan Bridgland #506
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29/07/07
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| Essex Spartans
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Only one ball boy provided.
Game abandoned in 4th quarter due to Essex player injury.
Lee Baker #413
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05/08/07
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| East Kent Mavericks
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One set of hashmarks extremely faint, rest of lines slightly faint, only 2 balls in good condition provided by home team so we used a ball provided by the away team, chain crew quite slow, holes in field surface had been filled in with sand.
Phil Clarke #372
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12/08/07
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| Note: it is possible that any game may be cancelled and also any team may arrange additional games, and so any dates mentioned here are intended only as a guide. |
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