Module 11 - Other Key Situations

In this module, we will cover:

1. “Last Drive” Rule

2. Mercy Rule

3. Navigating Parent & Spectator Behavior

• Previous Module: Module 10 - Defense: Penalties & Situations

• See All Referee Training Modules

If you have any questions, please email training@nextlevelsports.com.

0:00 Next level refs, we are wrapping up with two more modules. In this one, in module 11, we're going to talk about some key situations that you're going to see arise during the Next Level season.

0:11 They might happen once, might happen twice, might not happen at all. But you need to be aware of this, so lock in. And if you have any questions at the end, email training at nextlevelsports.com.

0:16 Okay, one of my favorite rules we have at Next Level: It's called the Last Drive Rule. It’s a very specific rule that only applies at the end of a game. Let me be clear: this is not the end of a half or the end of the first half—this is the end of the game.

0:25 In this situation, the offensive team has the ball, and they are down by one score, meaning eight points or less. They have the opportunity to go down, score, and tie the game, or go down, score, and take the lead.

0:45 This rule does not apply in tie game situations. If I'm losing to the Gators, and I have the ball, and it's around four minutes left to go in the game, the Last Drive Rule is possibly in effect.

1:08 You, the referee, should be aware of the score, and the time, who’s winning, and who’s losing. Take a minute, be aware of that, and make an announcement: "Hey, the Gators have the ball, they're down by six, possibly Last Drive Rule in effect here."

1:16 Okay, and what does that mean? So, if I, the Gators, am playing the Trojans, and I’m down by one score, and I start my drive, and let’s say there’s around three or four minutes to go on the clock.

1:34 If my team on offense achieves the first down yardage, so if I cross the 20 before the clock reads 59 seconds (so a minute or greater), if I get the first down before a minute, my team on offense is awarded all four downs, and the clock is effectively dead for my field.

1:54 Reason being, we do not want to create chaos; we don’t want people running around or having unneeded penalties. My team gets all four downs, let it finish out.

2:05 Again, you're still enforcing the 30-second play clock, just let everybody know: "Hey, Last Drive Rule here, Gators get all four downs, clock’s dead."

2:12 Clock's dead. In another situation, where I start my drive on the 40, and it takes me a while to get going—first down I get a couple yards, second down I get a couple yards, and on third down, I run a Hail Mary play, and my player catches it, and the clock says 55 seconds, or 58 seconds, since I got 2:30 for the first down—after a minute, okay, this is what we call a hot clock. You make the announcement: "We’re playing the clock, we’re playing the clock, the Gators gotta go, they gotta go, you are playing the clock."

2:42 Okay, when the game, when the clock says 00:00, it’s over, whether I score or not.

2:49 A couple exceptions here. If my team on offense, if there’s an injury—offense or defense—if there’s ever an injury on the field in this hot clock scenario, where I’m trying to go fast, if it happens within 30 seconds to that 50-second to 59-second window and somebody’s hurt, first things first: 10 to the player, make sure they’re okay, get them off the field.

3:08 Tell everybody: "Hey, we’re good, catch your breaths." I’m gonna award two plays to the offense.

3:17 If we’re inside 30 seconds, if there’s 15, 20, 25 seconds, heck, even one second—catch your breath, we’re gonna give one play to the offense. What we’re doing here, guys, is trying to create an opportunity to finish the game on a high note without any chaos or craziness.

3:27 Again, that’s gonna happen in the hot clock scenario. This might happen once or twice, and again, maybe even no times throughout the season, but that’s our Last Drive Rule.

3:36 Okay? At Next Level, we do have a mercy rule. If my team, the Gators, is winning by 28 points or more with, you know, 10 or less minutes to go in the game, we’re gonna stop keeping score.

3:48 We’re gonna have good sportsmanship. We’re not gonna run it up and have a team be demoralized that it’s 57 to 0.

3:54 Okay? We don’t wanna embarrass anybody. We’re simply just gonna flip the scoreboard over. We’re not gonna keep score anymore, but we’re gonna finish the game.

4:00 We’re gonna look, and we’re going to... okay, Urz winning, no more blitzing. Okay? Let the offense gain some yards, have some fun, we’ll finish it out.

4:07 My team effectively won. Umm, still continue to have fun.

4:19 And more importantly here, let’s talk about navigating certain parent and spectator behaviors that you might see as a ref.

4:29 You’re out there. Your main job is to call a clean game and be focused out there at all times, but you could get some distractions, whether it’s from a parent, coach, a spectator, or maybe even a student coach out there. And here’s what you should do in the situation.

4:39 If there’s ever a parent coach that’s verbally disagreeing with you, verbally demeaning you, or a player out there on the field—you might see that a lot—a dad coaching his son extra hard, maybe using bad language, okay?

4:48 If a parent’s not following the rotation rules blatantly, you remind them: "Hey coach, you’re not subbing right. He needs to be in, he needs to be out." Or if a parent coach ever physically approaches you in an argumentative way...

4:55 Your job, if any of those things happen, is immediately go to your site director, your coach in charge, and tell them what happened.

5:01 Their job is to deal with it. I want you focused on reffing your game.

5:09 Same thing goes with spectators, whether they’re close to the sideline, standing up, or up in the stands. If they’re verbally yelling at you for a call you made, or demeaning you or a player, go tell your site director.

5:15 Tell them: "Hey, that dad up there in the gray jacket, he’s using bad language. You need to go talk to him."

5:19 Okay? If a parent ever enters the field of play, immediately stop the game and get your site director.

5:28 Okay? Your job: focus on the game, call it well, call it clean. If any of these happen, your site director’s responsibility is to help you out and have your back.

5:33 If you have any questions, email us at support@nextlevelsports.com or training@nextlevelsports.com.