Ken Rivera is the Mountain West Supervisor of Football Officiating as well as the proprietor of the popular Reno Football Camps. Ken shares his advice on how to get noticed by Division I conferences as well as providing a valuable checklist when evaluating camps and clinics.

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To Crew or Not to Crew?

Crews are an important part of life as a college football official and in many cases, as a high school official as well.  Over the past two weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to work with two great crews – one in the WVIAC and one in the Mid-South.  Both crews demonstrated professionalism, passion for officiating, pride in their avocation. This story details my recent trip to Virgina @ Wise.

I had the opportunity to work a Mid-South NAIA game Saturday at Virginia at Wise. Normally I’m traveling alone headed to West Virginia but on this occasion I was fortunate to accompany the entire crew on our trip to the far western reaches of Virgina.

We met at the KHSAA office in Lexington, KY at 7:30 am and headed east in a fully equipped conversion van driven by the crew chief, PJ Doyen. This crew hails from Northern Kentucky where they work a full high school schedule as well. (Working a NFHS varsity contest Friday night then working Saturday in the Mid-South is one of the attractions with this conference) I did know the umpire, Ryan Kendall, on this crew. If you recall Ryan and I attended the WVIAC clinic and we both were hired on crews following that weekend in late July.

Now I must confess…I’ve only worked on a formal crew for one year (last year and the beginning of this year). Prior to that, I worked with different football officials on a weekly basis. Second confession – I LOVE being on an assigned crew.

As football officials, we strive to improve year in and year out. We set goals, we study rules, we watch game film and we discuss play situations amongst our crews as a integral component of our development plan. But what exactly does the crew concept bring to the forefront? Why are crews so important to improving the level of officiating?

Let me share one specific example in this post. There are many other key reasons but I won’t delve into all of them here. Feel free to drop a comment on how crews have affected your experience as a football official.

I find that after a few weeks together, the crew estabilshes a comfort level which allows each crew member to move past the early stages of “first date syndrome.” Let me explain. When your have new crew members each week, you really never move past getting acquainted. This prevents the crew, in most cases, from moving past the introductory stages and pursuing improvement which can elevate their game. Not always, but its difficult I believe, to offer constructive criticism when you don’t know if you’ll even work with any of the crew again that season.

Crews, on the other hand, who take the field together each week, form a bond which allows the free exchange of information, constructive criticism, and a focus on continuous improvement on an individual and a crew basis. Crews are protective of each other. Crews are like a fraternity in some respects. A brotherhood of the stripes. Its quite an experience.

So imagine my apprehension taking the field Saturday in my second NCAA game ever! Just a little on edge

But there are times when the stars align and you know almost immediately that its going to be okay. That’s the way it was Saturday. As I climbed in the van, I noticed familiar faces. Hands were shaken, a few well-placed jokes dropped and we set out on our way. Over the next 4 hours, we talked football, work, family and the general riff-raff that will arise when 7 men are confined in a tight space for an extended period of time. And of course, we talked football.

As we took the field, each member of the crew took the time to ensure I understood their pre-game activities. I asked questions, answers were provided. And since I had worked with another crew the week before…questions were asked about how things were done in the WVIAC. Like I said before, everyone wants to improve. The game went smoothly. I had a “bang-bang” play at teh end zone with a runner going airborne in his attempt to reach the goal line. He lost control of the ball and it ended up in the end zone. I ruled out of bounds at the 1 yard line. Question was…was the loose ball in the end zone a touchback?

That’s where the beauty of the crew comes in…we discussed the play in detail during the half. We can to no really conclusion. Discussion continued on the ride home with rule book in hand. Still no definitive answer. Calls were made. Emails sent. All in the interest of getting the next call right. Right or wrong, this call was history. How can the crew get better from this experience. What happens to one, can improve the football officiating of others. That’s what I love about the crew.

I can see the same potential with my WVIAC crew. We haven’t had the chance to gel just yet but I believe the ingredients are there. What we need is a good 5 hour road trip!

To PJ Doyen, Mike Freeman, Ryan Kendall, Jimmy Colwell, Daryl Crosthwaite and Chris Kent: Thank you for making this aspiring football official feel like one of the crew. The pleasure was all mine.

Be the Best on the Field…with or without me.

Todd

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  The word is out. Monday, August 24th at 9 am EST I will host a LIVE teleseminar where I will interview SEC Commissioner of Football Officiating and NCAA Rules Editor/Secretary; Rogers Redding.

I hosted a small contest to see who could guess what I was up to. Several good answers but only one correct response.

AND THE WINNER IS: RON DIVINEY

Ron will receive a consolation prize from ProFootballReferee.com (I just need some time to come up with something impressive!)

If you haven’t registered yet, you can do so easily at www.profootballreferee.com/teleseminar/rogersredding

Can’t make that time? No worries! A replay of the interview will be available but you must register to get on the notification list. I’ll also be hosting the call on the upcoming podcast next month. Stay tuned for more details on that!

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Getting On The Field

I left home at 9 am Monday morning to drive about 350 miles to attend my first WVIAC scrimmage of the 2009 season. I must say this one worked out better than my Charleston scrimmage did…I managed to get two hours of work under my belt topping the four plays I had my first go-around! (he he)
It was scorching hot Monday – temperature showed 91 degrees in the West Virginia mountains.

HOT! But despite the extreme heat, it felt really good to get some snaps and work 7 man mechanics for a few hours.
Since it was a Monday the crew didn’t hang around and socialize, most opting for a quick shower and head for the house.

So I followed suit and got on the road about 6:15 pm. A few stops and 5-1/2 hours later I arrived home in KY. EXHAUSTED!
So I’m getting ready for my opening NFHS game Friday night. I already  have my self addressed DVD mailer complete with a blank DVD ready for the Athletic Director.

My goal is to get game film from all 10 games this  year. In order to do that, I have to get Game #1. Wish me luck on that quest!

I saved the best for last — Stay tuned for a sweet deal to listen in on my next interview. I’ll be sending out the details on Thursday and giving you a chance to listen to me interview a prominent D1 Supervisor of Officials. You will all most certainly recognize this person. But Idon’t want  to let the cat out of the bag just yet. Remember to check  any email you get from me Thursday for the scoop.

Until then,

Be the Best on the Field

Todd Skaggs

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Heartland Conference

So let’s quickly revisit Larry Synder’s list of “What It Take To Be A Great Football Official.”

Study Rules of the Game

• Rule Book
• Tests & Quizzes
• Ask Other Officials
• Quiz a Buddy
• Never Stop Learning

Study Mechanics of Game

• CCA Mechanics Manual
• Camps & Clinics
• Philosophy
• Attend area meetings/rules study groups (Do any of you do this now?)
• Surround yourself with better officials
• Its hard to soar with the eagles, when you are surrounded by turkeys.

Part Two

• Watch film – the single biggest factor to rapidly improving your learning and accelerating your advancement. Countless seasoned NCAA and NFL veterans have pointed out to me during their interviews that film review tremendously improved their abilities. In some ways you can consider watching film as a close substitute for snaps. Granted, nothing will take the place of live play, but watching film can definitely add a different perspective while adding to your experience level. Some have suggested that it can advance your learning by a factor of four! What this means is that you can shave three years off your experience level if you are trying to get promoted to a higher level. An aspiring motivated official with 4 years of experience (1 of which was heavy on film review) is similar to an official with 7 years experience (no film review). How do you think guys get into the NFL at age 34? You can bet they spent time in front of a TV reviewing film.

• Experience – How much is enough? Larry is very clear here. Get as much experience on the field as possible. This means youth league, spring and fall scrimmages, junior varsity games, varsity games at the high school level and then basically the same process at the college level. When making the transition to college, you will find conference supervisors are looking for those individuals that are willing to take the scrimmage and JV games. They want a prospect to have a few games under their belt before putting them on the field. There truly is no substitute for experience. I have personally stood on teh sidelines behind seasoned Division I officials just to ask questions, watch from that angle and get a feel for the speed and quickness of the game at the higher levels. Without a doubt, this helped me in my first scrimmage giving me a small comfort level (that is, until the whistle blew!).

• What You Have Control Over – This was the cornerstone of Larry’s list. I hear often, officials at all levels, complain that they can’t get the good games, they can’t get the supervisor’s attention, can’t get noticed and so on… You can probably name a few in your local associaiton or area too. So let’s look at that statement. What can we control? Well for one, I can control my ability to study and know the rules and mechanics of the game. I can use the rule book, study groups, practice or scrimmage activity to really and fully know the rules. I can stay in good physical conditioning. This will allow me to get into position, be quick and react in a timely manner. It will help me look athletic in my uniform. Let me be clear – The Division I conferences have a ZERO tolerance for officials out of shape or overweight. Coaches and players prepare year around for the season. The zebras are no exception. Just take a look at the NFL staff. The athleticism and physical fitness is at its highest level. Its that important.  Attend every learning opportunity you can. Clinics, camps, rules study groups, association meetings, scrimmages, film sessions. While not necessarily consistent across the board, learning opportunities still abound in various forms in every city, state or region. Whether you take advantage of them or not is another topic.

So that’s all for my comments on Larry’s philosophy. I personally know several officials that have been mentored by Larry and they are all performing at the highest levels today. They will all admit that the process wasn’t easy and often times the requirements were not what they wanted to hear. Yet the followed the path and Larry led them in the right direction.

This post is getting long so I’m going to save my next story for tomorrow. It’s about how I applied Larry’s philosophy to gain entrance into the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Be the Best on the Field!

Todd

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