BAFRA Newsflash

http://www.bafra.org

Issue: 30/16

28^th July 2016

BAFRA CHARITY 2016

At the Convention this year, you again voted for Cancer Research UK to be the BAFRA Charity for 2016. Firstly, thank you to all who have made donations to of all or part of your game fee to this worthy cause.

Donations are still arriving. The appeal is due to close in early August and the money collected will then be forwarded to Cancer Research UK. This is a final appeal to any members who still wish to contribute to this worthy cause to let finance know by 6^th August. There are a number of ways in which you can make your donation:

Where teams have pre-paid or where you want money deducted from payments coming from BAFRA, please send a note to BAFRA finance saying how much you wish to donate and this will be deducted from any payment sent.
Where teams pay on the day by cheque, they can be asked to add the amount of the donations to the admin fee cheque which is then sent to finance by the referee as normal. The referee should note the amounts of donations on the back of the cheque.
Individuals may also send a personal cheque to BAFRA finance
Payments may be made directly into the BAFRA account. Please send to Royal Bank of Scotland: Sort Code: 16-16- 11 Account Number 10255350. If using this method, please let BAFRA finance know you have made the donation and use your BAFRA number and “charity” as the reference please.

BAFRA finance may be contacted on finance@bafra.org. If sending cheques, please send to:

BAFRA Finance

18 Southgate

Whitworth

Rochdale

OL12 8UQ

If you have any queries, please contact either me or BAFRA finance directly. Thank you again for your support of this initiative.

Paul Sutton

secretary@bafra.org

GAME DAY MARKS

Historically, the old paper forms had guidance about the crew grades awarded to officials at games. The object was to ensure consistency in the marks awarded as these form a small part of the overall rating used by the Selection Committee. Since we moved to electronic returns that guidance has not been available and this seems to have been reflected in recent returns. Therefore, the webmaster has been asked to amend the appropriate page to add guidance for scores awarded. There will also be the opportunity to add comments to the scores if desired. These fields are usually optional but it is intended to make then mandatory for very high or very low scores. It is hoped that these changes will be available from this coming weekend onwards.

Paul Sutton

secretary@bafra.org

2016 BOWL GAMES

The BAFRA Selection Committee is pleased to announce the following crews for the 2016 BAFANL Bowl Games.

	Britbowl	Div 1	Under-19	Div 2 North	Div 2 South
Referee	Jim Briggs	Brian Yates	Tim Ockendon	Mike Cavanagh	Amir Brooks
Umpire	David Parsons	Graham Hedges	Stuart Alger	Henry Richardson	Mark Wilson
Head Linesman	Pete Thom	Shawn Sombati	Paul Todd	Roger Brown	Ben Griffiths
Linejudge	Stuart Young	Russell Newton	Liam Wooten	Ellis Bowyer	Richard Whitby
Backjudge	Keith Wickham	Henry Richardson	Steve Leonard	David Knight	Richard Prattley
Fieldjudge	Aminul Hassan	Amir Brooks		Euan Paterson	Ian Wainwright
Sidejudge	Dean Wright	Dan Holt		Alan Christopher	Philip Hume
Alternate	Tim Ockendon	Ian Wainwright

Please join with the selection committee in congratulating the crews, particularly all those officials having their first Bowl Game, on their appointments.

NOTE: In addition there will be a Under 19 Plate Game, which will precede the Division 1 Bowl Game. This high-profile game will not have Bowl status but is seen by the Selection Committee as a development opportunity for newer BAFRA officials. It will be assigned via Arbiter in the usual way.

Richard Vernon

operations@bafra.org

BUSY WEEKEND OF PLAY-OFF GAMES – 13^TH AND 14^TH AUGUST

We are likely to have at least 24 games to cover over this weekend. This includes the final series of regular season games for Division 2 as well as the first round of play-off games for Premier Division, Division 1 and Junior kitted . In addition there are the Northern and Southern Area Flag Finals. Plus at least one planned Associate Game.

It is therefore most important that everyone makes a real effort to be available to enable BAFRA to cover all these games, over what will be a very busy and important weekend of football.

Your continued cooperation and support is much appreciated.

Richard Vernon

operations@bafra.org

LATER NOTIFICATION OF ASSIGNMENTS FOR 13^TH AND 14^TH AUGUST

As in previous years, you will receive assignments later than usual for this weekend (first round of play-offs). This is due to the play-off fixtures not being finalised until the final week of the season has be played (6^th/7^th August).

Richard Vernon

operations@bafra.org

HACKED EMAIL

A member has had his e-mail hacked and many BAFRA members have received an e-mail from the hackers, purporting to be in his name, giving the impression he is stranded in the Ukraine (or somewhere similar) and needs funds to get home. Should you receive an e-mail like this you should not respond and certainly should not send money. It is a well-documented scam.

Paul Sutton

secretary@bafra.org

QUALIFIED

Congratulations to Malcolm Turnbull on completing all of the requirements necessary to become Qualified. Thanks to Liam Wooton and all those who are helping with Malcolm‘s training.

Pete Thom

training@bafra.org

DISCIPLINARY CASES

NAME	#	TEAM	CODE	Q		OFFENCE	SUSPENDED
New this week
Conley Ross	87	Northumberland Lightening	FPF	3	Player after being legally blocked below the waist, got up and confronted blocker. He then violently and deliberately headbutted blocker/opponent with helmet.		07/08/16 v Newcastle Vikings
Previous weeks
Richard Kier	92	Merseyside Nighthawks	FPF	3		Towards the end of a punt play, players were jogging downfield when the player flagrantly and viciously blocked an opponent who was well out of the play. This triggered a fight.	31/07/16 v Coventry Jets
Christian Holmes	9	Tamworth Phoenix	FGT	3		Following the action above, the player reacted by confronting several opponents very aggressively which sparked a fight between a number of players, coaches and spectators near the home-team sideline.	31/07/16 v Sheffield Predators
Stephen Donaldson-Ellison	19	Lancashire Wolverines	FPF	4		Player was seen to kick an opposition team member while on the floor.	07/08/16 v Coventry Jets
Nicholas Smith	59	Birmingham Bulls	TUF	3		The player disqualified committed two Unsportsmanlike fouls both in the 3^rd quarter within five minutes of each other.	31/07/16 v Ouse Valley Eagles
Niall Scott-Grant	5	London Warriors	ASS	1		In an attempt to get to the dead ball pile, deliberately went through the game official making forcible contact with them.	07/08/16 v London Blitz

GAME MANAGEMENT REPORTS

HOME TEAM	REPORT	NEXT HOME GAME
New this week
London Blitz B	Hash marks were only 9 inches long, no team areas, some field markings in blue and some in yellow. Pete Thom #200	Unknown
Cornish Sharks	Goals were soccer goals with timber uprights attached. Julian Mallia #336	Unknown
Leeds Bobcats	80 yard field with blue markings. Lines not wholly straight, sideline has marks did not always line up with middle hash marks. Mike Cavanagh #465	Playoffs
Lincolnshire Bombers	90 yard field. No limit lines or 9 yard marks. Goal posts at one end of the field were tied to a set of football goals meaning the cross bar was too low. Team areas were not correctly marked out but lines from other sports were used for coaching box lines and player areas. David Hewitt #607	Unknown
Newcastle Vikings	Kick off delayed by twenty minutes as medical cover was held up in traffic. One ball boy vanished during the fourth quarter. Dan Holt #371	14/08/16 v Dundee Hurricanes
Jurassic Coast Raptors	Small issue with separate changing room for female official but was dealt with very quickly by Home Team Management. Albert Lambert #461	14/08/16 v Torbay Trojans
Dundee Hurricanes	Home team provided NFL Duke balls which visiting team agreed to use. Shawn Sombati #15	07/08/16 v Aberdeen Roughnecks
Outstanding items from previous weeks
Merseyside Nighthawks	The hash marks were not always in line across the field and some were significantly shorter than 1 yard apart while others were longer. This resulted in first downs being decided based on the chains. Lee Taylor #183	Playoffs?
Portsmouth Dreadnoughts	The 5 yard marks reached the sideline with no gaps - there were no limit lines and no 3 yard marks. With 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and the score 22-0 to the home team, the visiting team requested that due to mounting injuries the rest of the game should be under a running clock - the home team agreed to this so the running clock was adopted David Knight #135	07/08/16 v Hastings Conquerors
Solent Thrashers	Goals beyond end line by about a yard. Euan Paterson #165	31/07/16 v Kent Exiles
London Warriors	No 9-yard marks or numbers. Hash marks longer than required. No coaching box/team area at all on visiting team sideline; incorrectly marked one on home team sideline. Field uneven and grass needed cutting. Balls very worn. Jim Briggs #31	Playoffs
Crewe Railroaders	80 yard field only, Crewe had been forced into a late change of field by South Cheshire College although only an 80 yard field plus end zones it was perfectly marked out Richard Whitby #136	14/08/16 v Leeds Bobcats
Kent Exiles	Well marked 100-yard field just missing limit lines and numbers/9-yard marks. Changing room good size but not lockable and shower and toilet not private. Tim Ockendon #481	Playoffs?
Tamworth Phoenix	Game abandoned with 7 minutes remaining in the 4^th quarter due to lack of fit linemen for Coventry. Plaudits and thanks to the Coventry players who changed the referee's tyre after the game when a puncture was discovered. Jed Brookes-Lewis #395	07/08/16 v Merseyside Nighthawks
Hertfordshire Cheetahs	Plaudits to both teams for a hard fought and well disciplined game Brian Yates #29	31/07/16 v Bury Saints
Bournemouth Bobcats	The standing water meant one end line was incomplete and the game was played using only one goal Julian Mallia #336	07/08/16 v Maidstone Pumas
Birmingham Bulls	One set of goalposts were too wide: they were Gaelic football posts. Darryl Morton #493	31/07/16 v Ouse Valley Eagles
Bristol Apache	No field numbers and coaches and team areas only go to the 35 yard lines. Mike LeFevre #341	14/08/16 v Cornish Sharks
East Kilbride Pirates	Pitch was found to have numerous lines cut into the pitch for a reason which was unclear. Some of these cuts were deeper than 1 inch and stretched the length of the field the pitch – was deemed unplayable. Fortunately a second pitch at the rugby club was able to be used . So after a delay while this second pitch was marked out to meet minimum requirements the game was able to proceed, but kickoff was delayed by 45 minutes. Credit should be given to the EK Pirates organisation for they way there were able to reline a second pitch in such a short period of time Henry Richardson #25	Playoffs?

END ZONE

PLAY OF THE WEEK:

New this week

Play: A's ball, 4th and 16, on B's 49. A9's punt is blocked and rolls toward A's goal line. A9 accidentally kicks the ball on A's 26. The ball rolls to A's 6 where B82 bats the ball forward and out of bounds in A's end zone.
Ruling?

Last week

Play: Team A punt. B23 is in a position to catch the kick in flight. B23 makes a legal fair catch signal and the ball then bounces on the ground. The ball bounces up into the air and B23 attempts to recover it. He muffs the ball at the Team B 30 yard line and the ball flies forwards to the Team B 35 yard line where B23 recovers it on the ground. Ruling?

Ruling: When a player who has made a valid fair catch signal tries to catch a kick in flight and muffs the ball, then subsequently catches the ball at a spot in advance of the first touching, the ball is returned to the spot of the first touch (6-5-1-b). In this instance though, since the ball has bounced off the ground it is no longer possible for a player to catch the ball, only recover it (2-4-3-d). Therefore the ball belongs to Team B at the spot of the recovery, the Team B 35 yard line. Remember that since the protection associated with a valid fair catch signal ends after the ball touches the ground, so does the requirement that a muffed recovery be returned to the spot of the first touch.

MECHANICS:

New this week

Game Situation: On a 7 man crew, when covering a goal line play near the Team A goal line, under what circumstances do the wing men have primary responsibility for the goal line?
Answer next issue...

Last week

Play: On a 4th down play, in which situations will the clock not stop at the end of the play?
Answer: M-6-2-20. At the end of a 4th down, there will either be a turnover, team A will get a new first down, there will be a score or a quarter will end. Therefore the clock will always stop at the end of a 4th down.

CALENDAR

Date	Event	Contact for details
2016
July 30^th (Sat)	BAFRA Elite Training Day	elite@bafra.org
August 27^th (Sat)	Britbowl
19^th November (Sat)	BAFRA Board Meeting	secretary@bafra.org

BAFRA Directors
President	David Parsons	president@bafra.org	General Secretary	Paul Sutton	secretary@bafra.org
Finance	Charlie Dean Young	finance@bafra.org	Operations	Richard Vernon	operations@bafra.org
Recruitment	James Meredith	recruitment@bafra.org	Training	Pete Thom	training@bafra.org
Director without Portfolio #1	Peter Parsons	dwp1@bafra.org	Director without Portfolio #2	Steve Tonkinson	dwp2@bafra.org

The opinions expressed in this Newsflash are those of the contributors, and not necessarily of BAFRA or its Directors.

All Incident Reports to be submitted via www.bafra.org.

Deadline for articles submitted by email (newsflash@bafra.org) is midnight Tuesday.

Editor: Dean Wright - Email: newsflash@bafra.org