AuthorOrganizing member of iCanReferee & Head Offiicial of Friday Night Lights flag football league. Over 12 years experience with youth flag & tackle football. Major responsibilities are education, on-field training, game assignments, rules interpretation & expanding the organization. Archives
February 2020
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Week In Review
Know the rules?10/21/2018 Rules Question of the Week?
In this week's rules question we will be explaining Snap Infractions. So at these levels many of the kids struggle with the quarterback center exchange and we need to be aware of that. One of the things I do is when I see a center struggling to snap the ball, before I throw a penalty flag I stop the center and explain that what they are doing is incorrect and what I would like to see him or her doing. I also get the attention of the coach and tell them what I saw and what they need to correct. After I have done that I judge the severity of the snap exchange, which is whether its just a jerky snap or whether the kid double clutches the ball including how it affects the play. What this means is if a kid has a jerky snap I typically ignore it and do not penalize the snap unless it dramatically affects the play. However, if the kid snaps the ball and it leaves the ground and then he places the ball back on the ground I penalize it as a false start/snap infraction because they double clutched the ball. Also remember many kids pick up the ball because they are unaware that they cannot do that prior to the snap, so lets remind them that they must leave the ball on the ground and not flag them, especially if it doesn't affect the rusher or any other players on the team. If I see a kid pick up a ball and rotate it because of the laces I typically ignore it unless it causes the defense/offensive to rush illegally/false start. If the kid rotates the ball end over end or double clutches a snap then I will penalize it, especially at the upper levels as the kids have more skill and ability to control the snap. Keep in mind at the lower levels kids struggle so you do not have to penalize it even if you throw your flag, you can give a warning and pick up your flag, but I leave the determination up to you. Again I will never change your call or tell anyone that you are wrong in your assessment of a penalty/foul. I am here to always support you. If you have any questions please feel free to comment on the post or email me and I will answer you. Thanks |