During the off-season I had the privilege of attending the 2009 Rules Interpretation Meeting with Steve Stearns, State CIF Football Rules Interpreter for California. I got the inside scoop on all the rule changes before anyone else. It was kinda cool.
Perhaps some explaining is in order. The CIF (California Interscolastic Federation) is the governing body for competitive events between High Schools. They sanction the events, decided which rules will be used, etc. The CIF also certifies sports official associations. I could not work Football games if my association was not certified by the CIF. The schools can only use officials from certified associations.
The CIF, as I mentioned, also decides the Football rules California schools will use. And yes, there are more than one set of rules that can be used. The CIF, as do most states in the country, use the NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) rules. The NFHS is the "owner" of High School football. They decide how the game is played. They make the rules. They are the gods. This is where Steve Stearns comes in.
Steve attends the meetings at a national level and brings back to California the interpretations of the new rules. This may seem odd, but quite often, if you do not understand what problem is being addressed, or what the Rules Committee is really trying to prevent the rules cannot be applied properly. Steve is they guy who has the final say for California. If we have some weird play situation that is not clear in the book how it should be handled, then Steve is the guy who helps us decide the official ruling.
As I have outlined in many posts, much of Football officiating is about the "spirit" of a particular rule. This is what Steve does for the CIF.
Think about it -- how frustrating would this be for coaches, players, and fans to have the rules applied differently throughout the state?
The meeting lasted almost 2.5 hours. There are a lot of changes this season and I'll be mentioning these as the season progresses. A few of these will not make the coaches happy.
My first game is this Thursday and I bet one of these new rules will come into play. I'll let you know.
