Want to become a hs football referee

[Phillyeagles56]

I have never been a official of any kind at any level. I am very interested in becoming a high school football official. I live in ocean county New Jersey. I contacted, by email, my local chapter. They do not accept applications until early January. What can I be doing now until I can apply to my local chapter. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Ralph Damren]

Welcome to the forum, PhillyEagle, may you find it both enjoyable and informative. Go to a local sporting goods store or internet and order 2013 NFHS Football Rules Book and Simplified & Illustrated Book. From the Rules Book, READ RULE 2, RE-READ RULE 2 and cheer on your Eagles BUT don't considerate on the NFL rules as there are many differences. After you apply in January, probably classes will start for prospective officials. Your goal should to be the smartest in the class!!! Good luck.

[TampaSteve]

Ditto what Dameron said.
...and absolutely forget most every NFL & NCAA rules as HS can have big differences. 
BUT any NCAA or NFL game you see between now and Jan - watch the officials for where they are, what they are looking at, etc.

[Etref]

Ditto what Dameron said.
...and absolutely forget most every NFL & NCAA rules as HS can have big differences. 
BUT any NCAA or NFL game you see between now and Jan - watch the officials for where they are, what they are looking at, etc.

When watching the officials, look at the bill of the cap. That will tell you where they are looking.

[bama_stripes]

When watching the officials, look at the bill of the cap. That will tell you where they are looking.

Except when they throw 'em on the ground......

[HLinNC]

Good time to be shopping for a uniform and supplies- some of the online retailers will start marking stuff down in December after Christmas.  Do NOT scrimp on shoes-your feet are hurt or messed up, the rest of you will soon follow.

If you aren't working out, START.  Waiting til July to get serious is way too late.
Simple jogging to running to start.  Start mixing in sprints and shuffles around Memorial Day.  If you think you might want to be a back judge, add in back pedal runs.   Weights on your non-running days.

Do not expect to be working those Friday Night Lights in year one unless you are just absolutely stupendous beyond belief.  More likely will be Saturday youth ball and maybe some midweek middle school or Jr. high and working your way up from there.

While watching games on t.v, forget everything you hear.  It will either not apply to the level you will be officiating or may even be wrong.

You may be able to pick up an older set of rules from one of the chapter members to use right away and see if they have an old or extra Reddings NFHS guide too.

[VALJ]

Welcome, Eagles!  As they said above, start your physical training sooner rather than later.  Forget just about everything you know about football that you see on TV on Thursday nights, Saturdays, and Sundays - a whole lot of those rules don't apply down here in high school football.  When you do get your hands on a rulebook, READ RULE 2.  Then READ IT AGAIN.  AND AGAIN.  AND AGAIN.  AND ANY TIME YOU'VE GOT A FEW SPARE MINUTES, READ SOMETHING IN RULE 2 SOME MORE.

*cough cough* you also might be able to find old rulebooks in pdf form on the interwebs *cough cough*

[Rulesman]

The rule book makes great material for the john. You'll find it beats the newspaper on most mornings.

[ljudge]

Phillyeagles I wish I read this before yesterday.  I worked down your way (Absegami) for turkey day as my NCAA season was over and wanted to work one last game.  I would have allowed you to sit in our pregame conference.  I'm from NJ but at a chapter closer to Philadelphia.  I would recommend you find your local pop warner, pound ball, or "midget" (oops, did I say that) organization.  Sorry folks it's called "midget football" in my neck of the woods so hope I didn't offend.  We have high school officials who also work this level of football where the game is much slower and you get a double dose of learning.  In NJ you are a "cadet" for a two-year training program where you work JV and Frosh games while getting trained in a classroom setting.  Depending on on-field evaluations and test scores you are then given an opportunity to become state certified where you can then work varsity football. Good luck!

[BryanM67]

What I did during my rookie season:

Read the rulebook TWICE back to back
Read the casebook TWICE back to back
Read the officials handbook TWICE back to back (it teaches the mechanics - it's a start but it starts to sink in once you have some field experience)

I didn't buy the Redding's NFHS Football Official Study Guide but that would have certainly have been an invaluable resource.  I use it all the time now - I highly recommend it.

Once the chapter meets - hopefully they will have some "spring training" opportunities that you can take advantage of.   Try to get as many snaps in as you can before the season starts.

Hope this helps.