Issue 22/18 8th June 2018
BAFRA Newsflash | |||
1” OR 2” SHIRTS?
At the AGM, a discussion took place on whether BAFRA should follow a number of officiating organisations worldwide and change from the current 1” to 2” striped shirts. The debate was requested by a member on the basis that it is getting harder to source 1” striped shirts, in particular now that more officiating organisations in the United States are moving away from 1” stripes. Where it is possible to obtain new 1” striped shirts, the cost of these has risen considerably in the past year or so. It was thought, in particular, that this was having a detrimental effect on the recruitment of new members. However, it was also noted that there would be a cost to existing members having to re-equip.
Comments for and against the change were voiced at the AGM (although a show of hands indicated a significant majority in favour of the change) and it was agreed to put this to a ballot of the full membership.
Should a change be agreed, it would commence from 1st April 2020. In the meanwhile, crews may opt to wear either 1” or 2” striped shirts (with 1” regarded as the default until that date) although a crew should all wear the same width stripes. From 1st April 2020 onwards, 2” striped shirts would become the default option.
You are therefore asked to register your preference. There is a survey in the member’s area of the website and all members are encouraged to vote. Please note this vote is not restricted to qualified members but open to all members.
The voting form may be found here: http://www.bafra.info/members/surveys/shirtballot.php and the vote will close at 11:59pm on 30th June 2018.
Paul Sutton
BAFRA ELITE PROGRAMME (BEP)-DEADLINE SUNDAY 10th June
Now that the Annual Examination is complete the process of selecting the 21 members of the BEP can commence. Should you wish to be considered then you must apply in writing to the Director of Operations at operations@bafra.info. Applications will be accepted immediately and the closing date is Sunday 10th June 2018.
Applications will only be considered from Qualified BAFRA members who meet specific criteria. Full details of the criteria can be found in the Elite Programme Policy in Section 7 of the Members Handbook.
Also, as part of the criteria includes your rating on the Selection Spreadsheet, which must be 80% or above, I would also recommend you read the Scheduling and Selection Policy which can be found in Section 6 of the Members Handbook. If you wish to know your current rating on the Selection Spreadsheet before making your decision on whether or not to apply, please send an email to operations@bafra.info and I will come back to you in early June with a detailed breakdown of your scores.
If it is your intention to apply then I would recommend that you read the document in full. If you are considering applying and would like an informal discussion please contact me
Remember the final day for BEP applications is next Sunday 10th June
Richard Vernon
NORTH WEST REGIONAL TRAINING EVENT
North West officials are holding a regional meeting on Thursday 21st June at 19:15. The meeting will be held at the The Magnet Freehouse, 51 Wellington Road North, Stockport, SK4 1HJ. The venue is just off junction 1 of the M60 and right by Stockport train station.
The event is aimed at officials of all levels and is open to all BAFRA officials, if you are in the area, feel free to come along. If you require any further information or are planning on attending please contact me using my details on the BAFRA members area of the website.
Ben Griffiths
#228
DISCIPLINARY CASES
NAME | # | TEAM | CODE | Q | OFFENCE | SUSPENDED | |
New this week | |||||||
David Lawrey | 57 | Sussex Thunder | TGT | 4 | During an interception return, the player targeted an opponent with a blindside block which involved forcible contact to the head/neck area. | 10/06/18 v Solent Thrashers | |
Andrew MacIver | 45 | East Kilbride Pirates | FGT | 4 | After a play had ended the player was seen throwing punches at an opponent | 10/06/18 v Edinburgh Wolves | |
Previous weeks - none | |||||||
GAME MANAGEMENT REPORTS
HOME TEAM | REPORT | NEXT HOME GAME |
New this week | ||
Lancashire Wolverines | Apart from missing coaches box and numbers, this was a very well organised game day. Onsite bar, BBQ and announcer made this day enjoyable for all players, officials and spectators (the weather also helped). Daniel Johnston #347 | 01/07/18 v Glasgow Tigers |
Sussex Thunder | Well marked 90-yard field in white missing limit lines, team area lines, numbers & 9-yard marks. Hashmarks and inbounds lines too long and at incorrect depth. Good size, well appointed changing room which was lockable after assistance from Game Management. Game balls were in good condition but 2 were under-inflated. Tim Ockendon #481 | 17/06/18 v Berkshire Renegades |
Solent Thrashers | Goal crossbars overhang the end zone by approximately 2 yards. Markings in yellow (which are hard to see in to the sun) except for both 10 yard lines (blue) and halfway (white). Philip Hume #62 | 10/06/18 v Sussex Thunder |
Bournemouth Bobcats | 80 yard field with 7 yard endzones. No numbers or 9 yard marks. Coaching box line less than 6 feet from the sideline. Team area marked to 20 yard lines. No limit lines Euan Paterson #165 | Unknown |
East Kilbride Pirates | No limit line. Coaching and Players box incorrectly marked too close to sideline. After the final whistle an Assistant Coach from the EK Pirates entered the field to remonstrate with the officials. Henry Richardson #25 | 01/07/18 v Tamworth Phoenix |
Sheffield Giants | One end line was incomplete, this was rectified by game management before kick off. There is now a cricket boundary line running through part of the field. Daniel Holt #371 | 19/08/18 v Tamworth Phoenix |
Furness Phantoms | 100 yard field marked well marked with white lines. Towards the visiting sideline the remains of a line from another sport are still visible but I would think this will disappear over time. The only potential issue for future crews at this venue are the large quantity of daisies which as they also flower in white could make the lines disappear as the season progresses. Lee Taylor #183 | 01/07/18 v Carlisle Sentinels |
Chester Romans | The game was conceded by Carlisle at half-time. Having started with 15 players on a very warm day, one of their players fainted from heat exhaustion at half time and they conceded the game on player safety grounds Tim Vickers #129 | 10/06/18 v Morecambe Bay Storm |
Nottingham Caesars | Excellent marked field with 7 yard end zones. Ian Wainwright #567 | 10/06/18 v Sandwell Steelers |
Tamworth Phoenix | Officials room cramped, dirty and inoperative shower and toilet. Game suspended for 45 minutes due to injury to Tamworth player. Crews should note that small studded astro boots are not allowed on the pitch at Tamworth and that there are pitch police who check! The instructions do say astro boots are not allowed but the recommended footwear poster that comes with it does not show them - so I assumed mine were OK. Brian Yates #29 | 17/06/18 v Merseyside Nighthawks |
Outstanding items from previous weeks | ||
Portsmouth Dreadnoughts | Field marked really well with good lines however the hash marks in the middle of the field were marked as NFL hash marks. Balls were delivered late and were under inflated and had to be adjusted. David Knight #135 | 24/06/18 v Bournemouth Bobcats |
Humber Warhawks | No limit lines, 9 yard marks,or 3 yard marks. Sideline hashes were joined to the sidelines. Coaching boxes were incorrectly marked between the 30 yard lines and the line separating the coaching area and players area was missing. All 3 game balls were underinflated and required pumping up. The chain set broke on several occasions requiring repair. David Hewitt #607 | 17/06/18 v Staffordshire Surge |
Wembley Stallions | Perfectly marked and equipped 100 yard field that scored 0 on the field audit and an excellent overall game management experience. There was one football lost onto the railway line during an extra point in the second half. Officials changing area is a private corridor area with seating provided and has private access to toilets and shower facilities, we're given a key to the outside door and there is no other access so it is secure. Phil Clarke #262 | 10/06/18 v Kent Exiles |
East Essex Sabres | Pitch in same condition as last week, however there were key lines, ie goal lines, with poor visibility. Game was delayed by 30 minutes while game management painted lines and rectified the issue. Both head coaches agreed with the delay and were happy the issue was resolved. Alisha Darkins #573 | 17/06/18 v Norwich Devils |
Morecambe Bay Storm | Game abandoned with 12 mins and 49 sec remaining in the third quarter, this was due to an serious injury to a player. Ambulance was called and after 65 mins the air ambulance arrived and landed in the middle of the pitch, we could not carry on the game as the air ambulance had to wait for a land ambulance to arrive. This decision was taken after consultation with both head coaches Tony Newsham #302 | 05/08/18 v Chester Romans |
Cornish Sharks | Game took place on a rugby field of a small local club. Field was only 80 yards plus endzones and hash marks were inconsistent location, length and direction!. No 3 yard markings. Due to local restrictions one set of goal posts could not be used - so it was agreed by both HC's that the game would go ahead with no FG or PAT kicks. Changing rooms could only be described as 'small' and only WC's were outside the main changing rooms. Francis Bevan #474 | 29/07/18 v South Wales Warriors |
London Olympians | No inbounds lines only hashes at the 5 yard lines. No team areas or coaches areas marked, although cones were used to demarcate the 25 yard lines Brian Yates #29 | 10/06/18 v London Warriors |
Edinburgh Wolves | No Limit lines marked. No Coaching or Team area marked out so cones were used. During the card check it was noted that Martin Punter was within the Edinburgh team area. Edinburgh's HC was informed and he removed Mr Punter from the team area. Mr Punter was marked on the Edinburgh game day roster as having game day status "S" . Edinburgh's Down box is broken and no suitable replacement was available . Down box was set at 1 and left that way for the entire game. Downs were recorded by officials and information replayed to coaches Henry Richardson #25 | 10/06/18 v East Kilbride Pirates |
Farnham Knights | No limit lines marked. Peter Parsons #321 | 15/07/18 v London Warriors |
Doncaster Mustangs | Very well marked field with only the limit lines missing, the game management were extremely slow in finding enough assistants to be trained. Chris Jarvis #10 | 17/06/18 v Coventry Jets |
Torbay Trojans | 90 yard field. Field is tight in the surroundings causing limit lines to be less than 18ft. Euan Paterson #165 | 01/07/18 v Cornish Sharks |
Kent Exiles | Well marked 100 yard field, however some lines were quite faint in places so could do with re-marking. Changing room is a portacabin which is lockable but is also storage for some team equipment meaning that a larger sized crew [>5] might have space issues. Game management and officials' assistants were all to the Exiles’ usual very high standards. Phil Clarke #262 | 24/06/18 v Cambridgeshire Cats |
Gateshead Senators | Played at Gateshead Stadium due to waterlogged pitch at Monkton. Pitch had been remarked incorrectly (NFL hash marks / endzone had hazard in middle). Old lines were still clearly visible and used for the game. Condition of Astroturf very poor with some tears. Game stopped on one occasion to replace area of Astroturf. Dan Johnston #347 | 24/06/18 v Glasgow Tigers |
Manchester Titans | The pitch is only 80 yards long Murray Gibson #268 | 24/06/18 v East Kilbride Pirates |
Northumberland Vikings | Very well marked field, missing team area lines. Game management was brilliant throughout the day, Vikings intend on live streaming all of their home games. Liam Wooton #478 | 17/06/18 v Yorkshire Rams |
Crewe Railroaders | During card check, prior to the game, Crewe Railroaders player #81 Craig Edmondson went down on one knee and proposed to marry Becky Hathaway. Becky accepted. The BAFRA crew sends its warmest wishes and congratulations to Becky and Craig. Andrew Lovell #559 | 01/07/18 v Knottingley Raiders |
Bristol Aztecs | There were a number of sets of soccer goals located close to the end line that had to be moved prior to kickoff. Jen Brookes’Lewis #395 | 10/06/18 v London Blitz |
Cambridgeshire Cats | With 4.30 left in the first half one stake broke and we had to use only half with the temporary measures continually breaking. John Griffin #598 | 17/06/18 v Wembley Stallions |
Hastings Conquerors | A rugby game was taking place on a parallel field, which was only 1 yard from the back of the team area. We agreed with coaches before the game that if a rugby player or ball entered the field at any time, we would immediately blow the ball dead and apply inadvertent whistle procedures. Fortunately, we never actually had to do this, as rugby balls only entered the field while the ball was dead. Ben Gadsby #564 | 01/07/17 v Swindon Storm |
Oxford Saints | No coaching box line or team area marked. Width of team areas was marked with cones. No limit lines. Changing rooms not lockable. Peter Parsons #321 | 10/06/18 v Bristol Apache |
Jurassic Coast Raptors | No goal posts. Barbara Jacquin #48 | 10/06/18 v Torbay Trojans |
PLAY OF THE WEEK: | |
New this week | Play: 2nd and 10 at Team B’s 27-yard line. At the snap end A84 immediately charges and contacts B43 who is positioned no more than 1 yard from the line of scrimmage. |
Last week | Play: 1st and 10 at Team A’s 12-yard line. A13 receives the snap and throws a backward pass to A48. After catching the pass A48 runs towards the sideline and throws a forward pass. B92 deflects this pass behind the neutral zone. The pass is then caught by A82 at Team A’s 20-yard line where he is tackled. A66, thinking it is a run play, was 5 yards downfield when the forward pass was thrown. |
MECHANICS: | |
New this week | Game Situation: 1st and 10 at team A's 30 yard line. Quarterback A4 drops back to pass and throws a pass over the centre of the field towards A84. The pass is quite high, but before A84 has a chance to jump for the ball his right arm is grabbed by B23, which puts him off balance. The ball flies about a yard over his head. The Back Judge throws a flag for DPI, however the Umpire – who has swiveled to watch the end of the pass – thinks the ball might have been uncatchable. How should officials work together to make the right call? |
Last week | Game Situation: On a 4th down play, in which situations will the clock not stop at the end of the play? |
Date | Event | Contact for details |
2018 | ||
July 21st (Sat) | BAFRA Board Meeting | |
November 17th (Sat) | BAFRA Board Meeting |
BAFRA Directors | |||||
President | David Parsons | General Secretary | Paul Sutton | ||
Finance | Roger Brown | Operations | Richard Vernon | ||
Recruitment | Lee Taylor | Training | Tzvi Lindeman | ||
Director without Portfolio #1 | Peter Parsons | Director without Portfolio #2 | Steve Tonkinson | ||
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.info. Deadline for articles submitted by email (newsflash@bafra.info) is midnight Tuesday. |
