NFHS and Ball Persons

[TXMike]

Pardon my intrusion on your board but had a question re ball persons in the NFHS states.  It could be more of a state-specific answer than a NFHS answer.

Do you require that there be balls from each team on each sideline and if so, do you also require ball persons from each team on each sideline or just that the balls be there (in which case the team on that sideline would work both team's balls)? 

[Ralph Damren]

We request a ball boy/girl/whatever on rainy,muddy games on each sidelines with one of their team's dry balls. We sometimes forget  to enforce 3-5-7f unless it is in the waining minutes of a period. We also request the ball boy/girl/whatever to refrain from texting/tweeting/ whatever and pay attention the the wing officials beckon call for a dry ball. Is it but a myth that The Lone Star State has only cattle dust and no mud??

[bama_stripes]

Pardon my intrusion on your board but had a question re ball persons in the NFHS states.  It could be more of a state-specific answer than a NFHS answer.

Do you require that there be balls from each team on each sideline and if so, do you also require ball persons from each team on each sideline or just that the balls be there (in which case the team on that sideline would work both team's balls)?

Our state is quite old-fashioned (hold the jokes, please) in that we allow ball boys to bring the new ball all the way into the umpire.  Obviously, teams don't do this when time is of the essence, but this can still cause problems when the ball boy is barely old enough to be out of training pants.

[TXMike]

Thanks guys.  Hard to have mud when you don't have rain (or a malfunctioning sprinkler system) or when all you have is artificial surfaces  :-)   

Just to clarify what I am getting at..we are going to be trying to have each team provide ball boys for BOTH sidelines.  That way we have balls from each team on both sidelines.  Is anyone else doing that.

[Ralph Damren]

On muddy / snowy / rainy nights we tell both coaches : "So we can easily get a dry ball in for you, can you have a ball person follow us up the sidelines?" They usually respond : "AYUH".

[VALJ]

We don't send a ball person (yes, we have a few girls do it) to the opposite sideline.  Most of the ball-people are kids and naturally want to cheer for their team, which wouldn't go over so well with most of our schools.

With most of our games being 7-man crews, we also have no reason whatsoever to allow a ballperson on the field, so we tell him to stay on the sidelines and look for his deep wing when we need a new ball.  Out in the country, where we do some 5 man, they may end up on the field some, but we try to keep them off the field there too.

[HLinNC]

Ball"persons" stay on their respective sidelines.  Most in our area are of an age you don't want them away from their own group.

Our association doesn't allow ball"persons" on the field.  The region next door does so it leads to some minor issues when we have a non-conference team come up the mountain.  The kids tend to forget/not listen to what the BJ told them in pre-game.

[FLAHL]

In our area, we don't actually require that each team provide balls.  If the visitor does not have footballs, they can play with the home team ball.  I've only seen that happen once in 11 years, and it was a JV team that forgot to bring their own.

Typically, the ball boys or girls carry two balls that were approved by the U before the game.  They move up and down the sidelines with the L (unless they get an important text or phone call  ), and all ball exchanges come in from the L's side.  Our reasoning is that the H is dealing with the chains during most change of possessions, so the L deals with getting the correct ball into the game.  We work exclusively 5 man during the regular season.

One of the important things that the ball boys or girls do is put the 2nd ball under the goalpost before a try.  That way, the BJ grabs that ball to take to the kicker while the ball boy or girl chases the ball that was kicked on the try.

[fudilligas]

In our area we have each team supply 3 balls.  We take one to the other side so a ball from each team is always available.
Each team also supplies at least one ball boy.  If he is good he can handle both teams footballs.  Usually, since we have been doing this quite a while, a team will supply 2 ball boys.  They do not come onto the field.

[bossman72]

PA has nothing standardized in the manual.  I would venture to say the majority of crews in the state keeps the balls on their own team's sideline.

We are trying to implement proper ball rotation in Western PA.  Probably 40% of crews in Western PA do it this way.  We will not require ball boys from each team to be on both sides.  We do need the home team to provide 2 ball boys, however.  The only scenario where I would see a Team A ball boy on Team B's sideline (or vice versa) is if the home team chooses to have their bench opposite the press box.  This is because the visitors usually only bring 1 ball boy

[Rulesman]

Most high school ball persons have a hard enough time keep track of one extra ball on one sideline. Good luck trying to double that.

[prab]

One of the important things that the ball boys or girls do is put the 2nd ball under the goalpost before a try.  That way, the BJ grabs that ball to take to the kicker while the ball boy or girl chases the ball that was kicked on the try.

AMEN!

[SanDiegoStryker]

We very rarely have any ball persons, let alone ball persons from each team on both sides. At the start of a possession the center just carries the ball in or a coach tosses it to the umpire.

We only allow new balls after a first down or change of possession (Rule 1-3-2). Are you all allowing a new ball after every play?

[HLinNC]

Are you all allowing a new ball after every play?

Not usually- wet weather or humidity in the early weeks of the season (which I realize in SD you probably don't really have a concept of)- we'll allow it.  Our normal policy is if the U wants one he'll ask us.  We'll rotate a new one in on a long incomplete pass or if the ball is dead in the side zone below the numbers.  We leave the old one down and the U spots off of it back on the hash.

There was a rash of coaches wanting to do that a few years ago.  Most R's would try to be cooperative with them but most of the time the 9 year old running balls couldn't keep up so we would just let it die on the vine.

[Magician]

Each team provides their own ball boys on their sideline.  It's usually a middle-school aged kid and I'm guessing is often the son of the coach and his friend.  We'll occasionally get a HS girls or boys.

We only exchange balls at the beginning of a possession, after long, incomplete passes, and when we have a wet ball.  If an incomplete pass goes out of bounds on the opposite sideline we rely on the ball boys to retrieve it. Sometimes it comes back through the back judge.

[Atlanta Blue]

1.  Yes, we rotate balls in on virtually every play, unless it was a run that was short and ended between the hashes (which for us is virtually never).  I know that's not the NFHS rule, but it is "the way it's done" around here.

2.  We never have our ball boys on the other sideline, or vice versa.  All balls come from that team's side of the field.

3.  Most crews start the night saying the ball should come in through the F or S, and will go out via the H or L.  That changes on long gains.

4.  The state said they don't want ballboys running out to the U, but it still happens with some crews or on occasion.

5.  No one puts a ball under the upright.  After the try, the U comes up the field on the kicking team's sideline and gets a ball as he goes by.  In our case, the kicker just carries it out with him and hands it to the U if he wants it.  Most don't.  They might look at it, but most just tell the kicker (or POTENTIAL kicker) to go ahead.  On a kickoff, any approved ball may be used, it does not have to be one that was used on the last series or was in the game.

6.  Ballboys must be alert regardless of who is on offense.  If the ball ends OOB, the covering wing will call for a ball from that sideline's ballboy and will place it on the sideline as a mark to the U while someone else chases the ball that is OOB.  The U will then place the game ball using the sideline ball as his reference point.  The wing will them pick up the sideline ball and toss it back to the ballboy.

7.  Our ballboys are walking wounded Varsity players, not dressed out, and we have at least two for each game.  God help them if an official tells us they aren't paying attention.  They usually don't mind the job, as most officials want them to stand downfield in the white band.  I know, also not a FED rule, but they want them close and tell them to be there.  In 15 years, I have never seen a varsity aged ballboy get in the way of a play or an official.

But Mike, our officials aren't having to time a 40 second clock either.  Good luck with that one on a 5 man crew!  Your B's are going to be busier than one armed wallpaper hangers.

[TXMike]

As AtlBlue indicated, the 40 sec clock is our issue which obviously has not been implemented at NFHS yet.  I think the best we are going to be able to do is get ball from each team on each sideline but they will be worked by the kids on that sideline regardless of which team they are  from.

[SanDiegoStryker]

which I realize in SD you probably don't really have a concept of

Very true. 

Even if we have a LONG pass that is bouncing around on the track we wait for the back judge to retrieve it and get it to the umpire because that's the rule, new ball on first downs only.

Very rarely we might see a little weather and the referee may make an exception.