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Wilton Youth Football & Cheer

  

Registration Listing

2024 Flag Football Referees

Join the excitement of officiating NFL Flag Football Games!
Referees will enforce league guidelines, rules and regulations in a supportive environment.

Qualifications:
- Knowledge of flag football rules and regulations.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to manage stressful situations effectively.
- Prior refereeing experience is a plus, but no experience required.

This is a paid position.


2024 Spring and Fall Seasons

Registration closes on 12/31/2024 at 12:00 AM
Season Dates: 01/01/2024 to 12/31/2024
$0.00

Referee Homepage

Before Field Arrival

  • Make sure your cell phone is fully charged and the 'Virtual Scoreboard' app is downloaded and ready to go for your first game.
  • Be clear what field and games your are supporting that day.
  • Arrange ride to arrive at field 20 minutes before game start.
Pre-Game
  • Find field and coaches and introduce yourself.  Provide your name and ask coaches their names.
    • Show the coaches you have a copy of the rules and ask to see their copy
    • If a coach cannot produce a copy of the rules they automatically lose the coin toss and are on defense at the start of the first and second half
  • Remind the Head coaches they will be the ones calling/enforcing the penalties
    • You are there to assist with penalty warnings and walk off the penalty yardage.
    • If a coach believes a penalty should be called, then the head coaches will discuss and decide if it should be a warning or an official penalty
    • Remind coaches depending on grade level to be more or less lenient with the rules
      • Example - Shirt tuck in & belt/flag  alignment
        • Grades Pre-K thru 2 - stop game to have players fix jerseys and belts
        • Grades 3 plus - call penalties to enforce responsibilities
      • Example -Offense or Defense offsides
        • Grades Pre-K thru 2 - one warning
        • Grades 3 plus - no warnings
    • In the 'Virtual Scoreboard' app input team names (Example: 3rd Giants)
      • Set game clock (12 or 20 minute halves) play clock (30 seconds) and QB clock (7 seconds)
      • Give each Head Coach the code to access the Virtual Scoreboard and they will pass it on to their parents.
      • Establish who will work game clock, play clock and QB clock during the game. 
    • Host a "Faceoff" at midfield 5 minutes before the game with all players on both teams and all coaches.
      • Do a equipment check by making sure each belt is tight and that each flag is on the side of players hips. 
      • Make sure the excess belt is tucked away, rolled up and taped is the preferred method.
      • Check for illegal colored shorts and that each players jersey is tucked in. 
        • If a coach requests that a player be allowed to wear their jersey untucked, the flag must be up a little higher around the waist and easy to pull by a defender.  This exception can be made only if a jersey is to short to remain tucked in during plays of the game. 
      • Ask the coaches to stress no contact during the game & discuss the importance of sportsmanship
      • Explain that you are there manage the game by spotting the ball, keeping score, running the clock and to notify the Head Coach when a player or coach breaks a rule.
      • Explain how the out of bounds lines will be called, any player that steps on the white out of bounds line will be called out of bounds.  Explain that one referee will line up -
        • on the opposite side of the teams and coaches be in charge of spotting the ball, watching the Line of Scrimmage and counting out loud the 30 second play clock and the 7 second QB clock. 
        • on the side of the teams and coaches and be in charge of the 7 yard rush line, the play clock and announcing the downs on every play and the time and score when needed.
    • Manage the coin flip, make sure the away team is in white jerseys and they get to call heads or tails.  
      • Use a coin or siri to flip a coin for you. 
      • Winner of the coin toss gets to choose offense or defense first. 
      • Loser of the coin toss gets to choose what side of the field they want to defend. 
      • Make sure to flip sides for the 2nd half and whoever was on defense at the start of the game is on offense for the start of the 2nd half
In Game & Post Game
  • When a safety concern - stop the game and check with coaches
    • Shirt untucked and belt/flag not aligned with hips
    • Shoelaces untied
    • Contact between players - decide if incidental or purposeful
  • It is very important that our referees blow the whistle loud and quick every time a flag is pulled.
  • It is very important that our referees do not blow the whistle unless they are 100% confident that a player stepped out of bounds or their flag was pulled.
    • If you do accidentally blow a whistle and a players flag was not pulled, they play will still have to stop where the ball was when you blew the whistle. 
    • This is something that our referees have to avoid every game, if you are not sure if a flag was pulled or a player stepped out of bounds, just let the play finish and discuss it after the play. 
    • Do not ever blow the whistle unless you are 100% sure a flag was pulled or a player stepped out of bounds.
  • After each game record game score with a screen shot

Key Rule & Referee Ways of Working Overviews

  • Delay of Game Penalty’s
    • Each Offense is required to snap the ball within 30 seconds which will start once a referee establishes the 7 yard rush line
    • After approximately 20 seconds the referee should be alerting the offense of the time if they are still in the huddle. 
    • We want to make sure every team takes no longer than 30 seconds to call a play so we can make sure each team gets as many offensive plays as possible.  
    • A delay of game penalty is -5 yards and a loss of down.
  • Offensive Charging & Defensive Unnecessary Roughness Penalty’s.
    • Wilton Flag Football is a Non-Contact sport and every time there is a medium to heavy collision a penalty should be called, 
    • In football there can be incidental contact but incidental contact is still a penalty if it is considered a medium to heavy collision so a penalty must be called.
    • Our Flag Football Rules allow a defensive player to break down in front of the ball carrier and try to force the runner to change directions. 
    • If the running back runs into the defensive player that would be considered a charging penalty as long as the defensive player is stationary and its clear the runner has initiated the contact. 
    • If the defensive player is moving while trying to draw a charging penalty and it looks like the defensive player initiated the contact that is considered an Unnecessary Roughness penalty against the defensive player. 
    • This will be a penalty that our referees and coaches will be responsible for interpreting and calling as they see it. 
    • When deciding who initiated the contact if it is unclear, the penalty will be called on the defensive player. 
    • It has to be 100% clear that the runner initiated the contact for it to be called on the offense.
  • Halftime Rules
    • Halftime is 5 to 10 minutes long
    • Cheerleaders perform during halftime
    • Teams switch sides at the start of the 2nd half.
  • Clock Management
    • Each half is 12 to 20 minutes long with a running clock. 
    • Make sure you give the coaches a 10 minute and five minute announcement as the clock winds down. 
    • Each team gets 3 timeouts per game
  • Report Game Score
    • Keep track of the exact score of your game and announce it after every score in the game so the Head Coaches are aware. 
    • Email the score to the Flag Football Commissioner by the end of day. 
    • Also in your game score report, please add a few comments about the way the coaches and players treated you and how the coaches managed the game.
    • We want to make sure everyone respects each other on the field, if you see any coach, parent or player act inappropriately add that in your comments as well.
  • Referee Pay
    • Referees will receive $20 per game.  
    • Flag Referee's will be expected to show up 20 minutes before each game starts to set up the field or confirm the field is set up properly. 
    • If you do not check in with the coaches and arrive late you will lose 50% of your game pay.
    • Each Game should take less than 1 hour if the game is started on time.
  • Referee Ratings
    • All referees will be graded after each game by both Head Coaches.  
    • Referees will receive detailed coaching if there are any complaints about the way the game was managed by the referee.
    • The top rated referee's will be selected for the NFL Flag Playoffs.
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