Orange County Football Officials Associations

Policies & Procedures Manual

(Revised 11/5/2007)

The Policies & Procedures Manual is a compilation of the policies and procedures as enacted by the Executive board of the Orange County Football Officials Association. Revisions to this manual will be made available to inform and educate our members.

PERSONAL CONDUCT

All High Schools are posted as non-smoking and tobacco free environments. Any complaint filed by a school against an official for violation of this policy is an Ethics Committee matter.
Consumption of ANY alcoholic beverage on the day of a game is expressly forbidden. Any complaint filed by a school against an official for violation of this policy is an Ethics committee matter and potential grounds for dismissal from membership in this Association.
Failure to show up for a game you have accepted is an Ethics Committee matter and the official will be subject to penalties for such failure to honor the assignment unless having previously notified the Assignor or there was a legitimate emergency which prevented such notification.
If an official who is scheduled to work with you does not show up, or arrives after the scheduled opening kickoff, you shall call and notify the Assignor.

GAME ASSIGNMENTS AND COMPENSATION

All officials shall call the home school prior to the day of a non-varsity game and confirm the status of the game directly with the athletic director or head coach. Speaking with anyone else is not sufficient; if you have not confirmed the day, time and location of the game with the athletic director, and show up at the game only to find out it has been cancelled or rescheduled, you will not be paid. No official shall switch games with another official without the approval of the assignor. In case of an emergency, the assigner must be notified as soon as possible
For each scheduled game, all assigned officials shall call the Referee assigned to the game to confirm his assignment no later than 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday of the week of the game. Failure to confirm the assignment with your Referee by that date and time gives the Referee the option to replace you without notice, and you will not be paid for the game.
All officials working ANY game do so as independent contractors. As such, you are not an Employee of either the school or the Orange County Football Official’s Association, and your Service as a game official DOES NOT come under the auspices of the Workman’s Compensation Act. Payment of dues to OCFOA does not guarantee receiving any assignments to officiate. Assignments are exclusively at the option of the Assignor. Any insurance coverage for liability or medical claims MUST be obtained independently. These benefits may be obtained through NFOA or other private carriers, and it is up to you to obtain coverage. Some of these providers advertise in portions of the rulebook, and it is recommended that you obtain such coverage.
If the Assignor is contacted by a school and informed that a game to which you have been assigned has been rescheduled, he will endeavor to contact you prior to the rescheduled date and time to determine if you are able to accommodate the change. The Assignor has the right to replace you with another official, and you will NOT be entitled to compensation of any kind.
There are three recognized and acceptable forms of game fee payment. They are:

1) The school may pay you in cash at the game. (This is very rare)

2) The school may issue you a check and give to you at the game. (This is becoming rare)

3) The school may ask you to fill out a pay voucher and will send you a check in the mail (allow 1-3 weeks). The pay voucher has become the usual form of payment. In any event, if you refuse to sign a pay voucher, you will NOT be entitled to compensation.

If you have not received your game fee after three weeks, you should contact the Athletic Director. Game fees are the school’s responsibility and the Association will not be liable for a school’s failure to pay. The CIF liaison officer should be contacted in matters of non-payment by a school.

All officials working ANY assigned varsity game, including 8 man games, regardless of game start time, will wear the required uniform including striped shirt (short or long sleeves depending on the weather), knickers, black hat with piping (referee will wear a white hat), striped varsity socks, and black shoes. The alternate hot weather uniform (shorts) will NOT be worn in any varsity game. This is applicable to all varsity games regardless of game start time.
No official, other than the rating committee chairman, his designee or the assigner should ever review a game recording of another official’s game.

BUY-OFF PROCEDURES

1. SCHOOLS

For varsity games, once a crew has accepted a game assignment, either school still has the right to have the crew removed from the game through a buy-off procedure AT ANY TIME prior to the game. A school, at the request of the principal, may exercise this right by informing the Assignor of such decision and tendering a check to the Association for all five game fees. The school must also pay the game fees of the replacement crew. When this occurs, the bought-off crew will receive full compensation for the game from which they were removed and if the Assignor needs these officials to work elsewhere, they may do so and receive compensation for that new game as well.

2. OFFICIALS

Dues shall be submitted and received by the Assignor no later than May 1^st of the current year. A late fee of $10 shall be assessed for dues received after May 1^st. Any “bounced” check for dues shall result in a fee of $25 being assessed to that official. All such payments for dues shall not be considered paid until cleared with the Secretary/Treasurer of the OCFOA and thus may result in being late. Any member who hasn’t paid his/her dues by June 1^st shall not be scheduled for any games until their dues have been paid. Any Crewmember that hasn’t paid his/her dues by June 1^st shall be removed from the crew for the current year. The Assignor shall fill this vacancy for the upcoming season, on a weekly basis, with a qualified member of the OCFOA.

EJECTION PROCEDURE

If a coach or player is ejected, the official who did the ejection is required to fax a written report of the circumstances which surrounded the ejection to the CIF Liaison. The CIF Liaison will file your notification directly with the CIF offices.

Any and all questions regarding an ejection should be directed to the CIF liaison only and not to the officials.

CREW CHANGE RESTRICTIONS

All Varsity Crew members (including Crew Chief) are required to notify the Vice President of their decision to be removed (or remove a member) from a crew by March 1^st for the upcoming season. Crew Chiefs shall notify the Vice President of new crew member(s) to fill said vacancy(s) by March 31^st.

Any crew member who removes himself after March 1^st shall not be eligible to be on a crew until the following year. After March 31^st, all vacancies will be filled on a weekly basis by the Assignor for the upcoming season.

Any official who transfers in from another Association may not serve as a permanent member of a crew until first serving a full year (pay dues, attend classes and pass all required exams) with the O.C.F.O.A. A transferring official may be assigned Varsity games on an individual game basis upon examination and confirmation of written verification of Varsity qualification from the previous Association.

If a crew member has to leave the crew due to extenuating circumstances. That official maybe replaced by a non-crew member, with board approval, before June 15^th.

MEMBERSHIP – DUES

The due date for the annual dues shall be established as no later than May 1^st for the current Year. A late fee of $10 shall be assessed for dues received after May 1^st (bounced checks will not be considered as paid dues). Any member who hasn’t paid his/her dues by June 1^st shall not be scheduled for any games until their dues have been paid. Any crew member who hasn’t paid her/her dues by June 1^st shall be removed from the crew for the current year. This vacancy shall be filled by the Assignor for the upcoming season on a weekly basis.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Any member of this Association in good standing – i.e. has kept all dues current, has passed all required exams and has maintained a satisfactory attendance record, may apply for and receive an approved leave of absence for up to one year without forfeiting his or her qualification status. An application for a leave of absence must be by letter addressed to the President or Secretary of this Association stating the reason for the request. Upon returning to active membership, the official in question shall pay all current membership dues, pass the current year’s summer exam and current year’s qualification exam before they become eligible to officiate football games again. If said official was on a crew, he/she does not automatically return to that crew but is eligible to be selected to be on a crew for the season following the leave of absence. Any official on leave of absence for longer than one year will be treated as an official transferring in from another Association as far as eligibility to officiate and to be on a crew.

PLAYOFF QUALIFICATION

In order to qualify for placement on the Orange County Football Official’s Rating Committee Play-off list an official must:

Officiate a minimum of six (6) Varsity games (in Orange County) during the current year.
Be a member in good standing:

Dues are current
Have an acceptable attendance record at Association meetings by having missed no more than one net meeting (including credit for attending make-up meetings or attendance at other football Association’s meetings).
Passed the summer exam and the qualification exam with a minimum grade of 70 %

The Rating Committee shall submit to the Board for its approval, a list ranking the top twenty seven (27) officials for each position of Referee, Umpire, Head Linesman, Line Judge and Back Judge. After approval the Board shall:

1) Forward the list to the OCFOA’s Assignor for his use in assigning Play-Off games.

2) Forward a list of the top 3 officials by position, or any other amount required, to the C.I.F. office for their use.

The Rating Committee shall submit to the Board a list of any Crew Referee(s) who was ranked #21 or higher (worse) in any 3 of the last 5 seasons. Upon review and approval by the Board, said official(s) may be removed from the position of Crew Referee.