By Staff
Coaching Management, 9.4, May 2001, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/cm/cm0904/bbsafety.htm
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Football Rules Committee addressed risk minimization and sportsmanship at its January meeting. Rules changes that affect penalties during kicks and require referees to discuss sportsmanship with coaches before each game were among those implemented for the 2001 season.
In an effort to reduce injuries, blocking rules changed to restrict blocking below the waist to only those players who are on the line of scrimmage and in the free-blocking zone at the snap. And a new enforcement option was added to penalize illegal contact with a scrimmage kicker or holder. In such instances, referees will decide whether or not the scrimmage kicker or holder has been roughed. If not, referees can now assess a five-yard penalty for displacing the kicker or holder from his kicking or holding position. If the kicker or holder is roughed, referees will assess a personal foul, which brings a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down.
“Not only does this rule provide a stronger sense of risk minimization, but it also adds some consistency among the rules,” said Ronnie Matthews, Executive Director of the South Carolina High School League and Chair of the Rules Committee, in an NFHS press release. “Last year, the Rules Committee created a five-yard and a 15-yard penalty for a face mask infraction, and now we are doing the same with the contact of a kicker or holder.”
The committee also addressed sportsmanship by adding a rule that requires the referee to meet the head coaches and captains prior to the game to explain that good sportsmanship is expected throughout the game. “The NFHS-member high school associations must continually remind their member schools of the significance of sportsmanship and that there is no substitution for sportsmanship,” Matthews said.
Other changes were made to clarify that NFHS football rules do not recognize protests of rulings or judgment situations and to prohibit clothing and arm covers or pads manufactured to enhance ball control.