Issue 46/18 5th Dec 2019
BAFRA Newsflash | |||
BAFRA WELFARE OFFICER
As part of BAFRA's implementation of the BAFA Safeguarding Policy the board are looking to appoint a Welfare Officer either from within BAFRA or externally.
The Welfare Officer will be responsible for establishing and promoting guidelines, procedures and training opportunities, as well as keeping relevant records related to safeguarding and welfare matters. Previous experience of such a role in either a statutory or voluntary body is an essential requirement.
If any member wishes to put themselves forward for this role or wishes to understand in more detail as to what the role entails, please contact dwp1@bafra.info.
The deadline for submissions of interest is 31st December
Pete Parsons - Director Without Portfolio #1
COACHES CARDS
It is a requirement by rule (BAFA Regulations 5-1-6, in the Rule Book) that the Head Coache of both teams receive a list of the match officials prior to the start of the game. This is the rule requirement of the coaches cards, although it has come to light that at some games this is not happening. Referee's must make sure these are given to each Head Coach at every game, also use this opportunity to ask the coach to register with us online and to give feedback on their opinion on the crew for that day. It is the first port of call for coaches to vent their views, we need to increase the number of coaches cards that are returned to us. If the Referee does not have access to a printer, make sure another member of the crew prints it off.
Do not go ahead with the game without giving the coaches cards out.
It has been mentioned that due to last minute changes to the crew the printed version sometimes needs amending, and in light of this we have added a blank template on the BAFRA website. All officials should print a few of these off and bring to the game with them.
This can be found:
This does not replace the ones which come pre-printed with the crew names but are only to be used when there are amendments required.
Tzvi Lindeman – Director of Training
MINUTES FROM THE NOVEMBER BOARD MEETING
The minutes of the November Board meeting are now available in the members’ area of the website at: http://bafra.info/members/minutes/eb20181117.pdf
Paul Sutton – General Secretary
DISCIPLINARY CASES
NAME | # | TEAM | CODE | Q | OFFENCE | SUSPENDED | |
New this week | |||||||
Previous weeks | |||||||
Dale Billing | 68 | Coventry University Jets | FGT | 4 | Number 68 was observed to throw a punch. | 9th Dec 2018 v Loughborough Students | |
William Crowfoot | 23 | UWE Bullets | TGT | 2 | The player initiated helmet contact with a blind-side block on a defenceless player | 16th Dec 2018 v Birmingham Lions | |
GAME MANAGEMENT REPORTS
HOME TEAM | REPORT | NEXT HOME GAME |
New this week | ||
Bath Killer Bees | No Coaches box or team area lines marked, but the width was indicated with cones. No limit lines. Field surface was in reasonable condition at the start, but became muddy during the course of the game. | 9th Dec 2018 v Southampton Stags |
Hertfordshire Hurricanes | The home team balls were worn so used the visitors. Some hash marks continued into end zone. team areas marked with cones Brian Yates #29 | 9th Dec 2018 v Portsmouth Destroyers |
Kingston Cougars | Coaching Box marked with cones, Goal Posts greater than 2 yards from end line, very muddy field due to overnight rain and changing room of good size but cannot be locked so bags stored in cars. Kick off was delayed by 7 minutes due to lack of officials assistants, the away side provided a ball person to speed up the process. Field end goal posts had to be realigned prior to kick off and once during the game. Game was suspended for 54 minutes due to a left shoulder injury to a Kingston player. Game was shortened to 8 minute quarters following the restart to avoid issues with lack of light. Down Box was repaired with gaffer tape following a break in the previous game but survived the game. | 9th Dec 2018 v Brighton Panthers |
Sheffield Sabres | Well marked field, but in black. Future crews should note there is limited parking available on the site Ian Wainwright #567 | 9th Dec 2018 v Manchester Tyrants |
Stirling Clansmen | Kick off was delayed for 15 minutes due to lack of access to changing facilities. Ian Sneddon #427 | 9th Dec 2018 v Leeds Beckett |
Lincoln Colonial (Visiting Team) | Lincoln Colonials wore a mixture of different Jerseys, some were Navy with Yellow Numbers and some were black with White Numbers. Ben Griffiths #228 | 9th Dec 2018 at Huddersfield Hawks |
Bournemouth Bobcats | A great effort was made by Bournemouth to get the game on following heavy rain on the South Coast this week. 3 changes of ball persons throughout the game. At half time the crew were approached by OBUs head coach who seemed confrontational, he said he was considering forfeiting the game due to "player safety" however the second half continued as normal. Oliver Maskell #221 | 27th Jan 2019 v Bristol Barracuda |
Sunderland Spartans | Played at Druid Park, access to field pre-game was limited due to rugby and soccer games, footballs provided were very worn, field markings are faint and difficult to see under the floodlights, game kicked off 20 minutes late to allow ground staff to insert goals, chain set broke several times throughout the game, ball persons were very slow, away team asked for a running clock from the opening kick off, rather than this, we shortened the game to 10 minute quarters. Liam Wooton #478 | 27th Jan 2019 v Heriot-Watt Wolverines |
UCL Emperors | Changing rooms were not available until 30 minutes before kickoff. Access as a whole was not available the required 2 hours before kick off. Upon arriving at the field there were building works which had dug a trench behind one goal line and metal fencing was on one edge of the end line. The goal line was move forward by 10 yards at this end to give us a 90 yard legal field without the hazard. This meant only one end had a legal goal post and as such all offensive plays were conducted in this direction. Officials not paid after the game and should have been. Lee Wood #517 | 27th Jan 2019 v BNU Buccaneers |
ARU Rhinos | There was no access to goal post padding, chains or any other field equipment until 13:30 as there were locked away. The game kicked off at 13:40 Larry Rigby #269 | 3rd Feb 2019 v UEL Titans |
Canterbury Chargers | Well marked 90-yard field marked in blue with other sport markings in red, white & yellow. No limit lines, numbers or 9-yard marks. 8-yard end zones and coaching line at incorrect depth. Changing room spacious but not lockable. Tim Ockendon #481 | 10th Feb 2019 v UEA Pirates |
Leeds Beckett | 80 yard field. No 3 yard marks, 9 yard marks or numbers. Sidelines hashes were missing. Coaching boxes not present but were marked out using cones. Changing room was too small for 5 people. David Hewitt #607 | 10th Feb 2019 v Durham Saints |
MMU Eagles | There was no coaching line or team area markings. All three game balls were significantly below the legal pressure and the home team did not have a pump with which to inflate the balls. As a result of the kick off being delayed a pump was eventually found and the balls inflated to a legal pressure. The visiting team (Lincoln Colonials) wore a mixture of different Jerseys, some were Navy with Yellow Numbers and some were black with White Numbers. The home team occupied the two changing rooms allocated to the teams as a result the visiting team only gained access to changing facilities one hour prior to the scheduled kickoff time. The kick-off was delayed for 1 hour and 6 minutes as the booked medical cover did not turn up on time. To allow the visiting team bus to leave on time, the game was reduced to 10 minute quarters. One member of the chain crew was repeatedly filming the game from his mobile phone while operating the chains. He ignored multiple requests to stop so at half-time we asked the home team to replace the individual, which they did. The 3 yard mark was located 8 yards from each goal line. Ben Griffiths #228 | 10th Feb 2019 v Huddersfield Hawks |
Sheffield Hallam Warriors | 80 yard field, the field is well marked, but they are in red. This makes them difficult to see especially with the floodlights. Floodlights are not great. Ian Wainwright #567 | 10th Feb 2019 v UCLan Rams |
Bristol Barracuda | While enroute to the venue, Bristol rang the officiating crew to inform them that Bath Spa had called him and stated they would not be travelling for the game because of lack of players, so the game had been cancelled.. Francis Bevan #474 | 24th Feb 2019 v Gloucestershire Gladiators |
East Kilbride Pirates (Sapphire Series) | There were no lines on the field instead it was marked with cones. Michael Prentice #393 | Unknown |
Outstanding items from previous weeks | ||
Lancaster Bombers | 80 yard field very well marked in blue. Note for future crews there is currently building work at the main sports building which limits car parking space but further parking is available near the tennis courts on turning before the main junction if heading towards Lancaster. With 8 minutes 15 seconds left in the 3rd quarter an injury to a Lancaster player meant there was a delay of just under 1 hour during which the air ambulance landed on the pitch. Credit to both teams for their patience and for completing the game in good spirits. Lee Taylor #183 | 8th Dec 2018 v Tarannau Aberystwyth |
Leeds Gryphons | 90 yard field. No 9 yard marks or numbers. Sidelines hashes were too far from the sidelines. No team areas or coaching boxes present. Changing room was too small for 5 people and was a good hike from the field. David Hewitt #607 | 9th Dec 2018 v Tarannau Aberystwyth |
Keele Crusaders | On arrival field marked as 90 yds with 4 yd end zones. field shortened to 80 yds using previous 5 yd lines as gl | 9th Dec 2018 v DMU Falcons |
Imperial Immortals | Hash marks were too wide. No team areas marked out. One ball boy was switched at half time Henry Young #486 | 9th Dec 2018 v Kent Falcons |
UCLan Rams | No yardage markers or 3 yard marks between the 5 yard line and the goal line at one end of the field. Jon Ikins #104 | 9th Dec 2018 v Sheffield Hallam Warriors |
Loughborough Students | The field had not been re-painted since the previous game, resulting in some of the markings being very faint. Paul Todd #289 | 9th Dec 2018 v Coventry University Jets |
Brunel Burners | Field was marked with hash marks slightly wider than the goal posts (so were too narrow). The coaching box and team areas were marked to the 20 yard lines. The game was stopped on multiple occasions for repairs to the chain set. There were no limit lines. For reference for future crews, Brunel university have now introduced parking charges at the venue, 7 days a week from 8am to 4pm. Payment can be made using the Parkmobile app. | 16th Dec 2018 v Reading Knights |
Birmingham Lions | Lines hard to see as they are black and got lost in the gloom. Team areas marked with cones. Brian Yates #29 | 26th Jan 2019 v Portsmouth Destroyers |
Bath Spa Bulldogs | Inbound markers on one side of field only,80 yard field, no team areas marked | 27th Jan 2019 v Oxford Lancers |
University of Nottingham | Well marked field with numbers all in yellow which is fading. Goalposts were tubes fixed to the fence. Ian Wainwright #567 | 27th Jan 2019 v Durham Saints |
Brighton Panthers | The field is 100 yards long with the markings in Blue - The hash marks on the side of the field were attached to the sideline. No 3 yard marks. Team areas marked with cones only. Goals are approximately 3 yards behind the endline attached to a fence. David Knight #135 | 27th Jan 2019 v Reading Knights |
Tarannau Aberystwyth | The field has NFL hash-marks and no 9 yard marks. One endzone was 8 yards deep, the other was 10 yards. The down box had its bottom half missing so that it was only around 4 foot tall. A temporary fix, involving a broom, was used to make it taller. The chain crew and ball persons were slow and were replaced at half-time. Unfortunately, the second set of chain crew and ball persons were equally slow and somewhat reluctant. | 27th Jan 2019 v Bangor Muddogs |
QBML Vipers | Field marked with NFL style hashmarks. Lateral positioning of the ball was approximated using pylons behind the end line. Coaches and team areas marked with cones. Game shortened to 10 minute quarters due to late arrival of medical team. Steven Leonard #370 | 27th Jan 2019 v Kent Falcons |
Oxford Lancers | The field was originally marked out as 90 yards with 10 yard endzones. Unfortunately, the goalposts were positioned in the goal line rather than the end line. After rectifying this by moving the goal line out by 10 yards, this left us with a 70 yard field with 10 yard endzones. The game went ahead with the agreement of both head coaches. To compound this, it was found that when compared with the field markings, the chains appeared to be only 9 yards long. The crew verified that the chain was in fact the correct length, meaning that the yard marks were more than a yard apart. The field also has NFL hashmarks which were significantly longer than 24 inches. Amir Brooks #593 | 1st Feb 2019 v Oxford Brookes Panthers |
Warwick Wolves | Game suspended with 2 minutes remaining in the second quarter for 1 hour and 10 minutes to allow treatment to an injured NTU player. On agreement with both head coaches, 3rd and 4th quarters shortened to 8 minutes to allow completion of the game before lack of light became an issue. Jed Brookes-Lewis #395 | 3rd Feb 2019 v Leicester Longhorns |
Portsmouth Destroyers | Endzone at the minimum requirement of 7 yards deep. No 8 yard markings - 90 yard field. The game was played in heavy rain and by the end of the game the field markings were no longer visible in places, and the field had turned to mud in large areas David Knight #135 | 3rd Feb 2019 v UWE Bullets |
York St John Jaguars | The game was played at York Centurions home field as York St John do not have a home field. The pitch was marked with red markings, the markings were faint and will need remarking before the next game at the venue. There were no numbers or 9 yard marks, there we no limit lines, coaching lines or team areas marked. All three games balls supplied were significantly below legal pressure and no towels were provided despite the muddy field conditions. The changing rooms were not secured. Ben Griffiths #228 | 3rd Feb 2019 v UWS Pyros |
Surrey Stingers | Field is reasonably well marked, with most lines in dark blue (except the midfield line and end lines, which use the white lines from the rugby pitch), and short hash marks. Chain crew and ball persons were provided less than 10 minutes prior to kick off. There were multiple issues with the down box. Prior to the game the Head Linesman identified that, while the box showed 2 and 3 correctly, the box showed 1 on one side and 4 on the other if attempting to show first down or fourth down. This was identified as being the result of a badly implemented repair and, with the use of the chain repair kit was rectified so that the downs were shown correctly. Further issues occurred with the down box during the first half, with multiple additional repairs proving to be less than durable. A rebuild by the Head Linesman at half time rectified the issue for the second half. Pete Parsons #321 | 3rd Feb 2019 v Brighton Panthers |
Kent Falcons | 90 yard 3G field, perfect playing surface. The only problem was, that our match started at 3pm, with floodlights, and the american football markings are dark red on the green pitch, which was barely visible in the artificial light. It could also be a problem for colour blind participants in the game. Viktor Janvari #63 | 3rd Feb 2019 v Canterbury Chargers |
Glasgow University Tigers | Game suspended for around half an hours to allow treatment to an injured Glasgow player during the second quarter. There was a further half hour stoppage at the start of the 3rd quarter to allow the injured player to be transferred to a second ambulance for transfer to hospital for tests. | 10th Feb 2019 v Edinburgh Napier Knights |
Bangor Muddogs | The game was suspended for almost 20 minutes in the 4th quarter for treatment to an injured player. Tim Vickers #129 | 17th Feb 2019 v Leeds Gryphons |
Royal Holloway Bears | Field markings very faint. Officials assistants were not forthcoming and had to be selected from the crowd, resulting in relatively inattentive people being selected. One ball person had to be changed following an altercation with the away team in their team area. Ben Gadsby #564 | 24th Feb 2019 v Greenwich Mariners |
PLAY OF THE WEEK: | |
New this week | Play: A's ball on B's 45, 2nd and 15. While A17 scrambles looking for a receiver, B73 holds A27 on B's 47. A17 is downed on A's 48.
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Last week | Play: 1st and 10 at Team A’s 20-yard line. When the snap happens eligible receiver A40 immediately charges off the line and contacts B80 at Team A’s 21-yard line. B80 is knocked over. A40 then catches a forward pass at midfield and is immediately downed in possession of the ball. Ruling?
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MECHANICS: | |
New this week | Game Situation: Team A punt from midfield. Team B line up with two punt returners, B23 is on the the Head Linesman's side of the field while B80 is on the Linejudge's side of the field. The punted ball is caught by B23 and he begins to run upfield with it. On a 5 man crew, how should the officials work together to ensure that the forward progress of the punt returner is covered?
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Last week | Game Situation: 1st and 10 for Team A at midfield. There are only 30 seconds left on the clock and Team A are winning by 10 points. Team B have no timeouts remaining. Team A declare that they will ‘take a knee’. However after they snap the ball they throw a quick pass out the the wide receiver, who gains 20 yards before being forced out of bounds. Ruling?
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Date | Event | Contact for details |
February 23rd (Sat) | BAFRA Board Meeting | |
BAFRA Board Meeting | ||
BAFRA Board Meeting | ||
November 16th (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. |
